A New Threat
by judoka2.0
Summary: Harry lives a peaceful life in New York. Until the day his history teacher wakes him up during class. Harry suddenly finds his world turned upside down as he enters a universe full of greek monsters and gods, an unusual camp, and dark forces that seek unimaginable power. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

I

Harry

There was a muted sound, like a book dropping on a desk. I gasped, my head snapping up, my senses on full alert. In front of me was a large history book and behind that was a purple blouse tucked into a pair of black pants.

"Mr. Seawood, will you tell me what this is about?" asked Ms. Gustavo. I looked up to see my history teacher looking angry. Her eyes were covered with too much makeup, so they looked like black pits, her hair was brown, but there were a few strands of grey hair here and there. She wore a bandana that held back her hair and they rolled down to her shoulders in waves. She had thin lips that were covered in bright red lipstick and shone in the light. When she talked, you could see uneven yellow teeth on the top and bottom. Her thin body looked like she might fall down any second.

I blinked and looked around at thirty laughing faces. Except for one. The boy was at the very back of the class, tinkering with several paper clips, twisting them here and there. He was too focused on his work to notice that the lesson had paused.

"Well, Mr. Seawood? Will you tell me what you were doing?" asked Ms Gustavo.

"Uhh," I let out, not really knowing what to say. "You could obviously see that I was asleep." It came out just like that. A roar of laughter erupted behind me. I smiled nervously.

"Mr. Seawood, see me after class," said Ms Gustavo angrily. Her black eyes passed over the class and everyone shut up at once. "And that counts for you too, Mr. Alvares." The boy at the back of the room who had been playing with the paperclips jumped and looked up, confused.

"Uh," he stammered. "The civil war?" The class erupted in laughter.

"Everyone, get back to work, before I give the whole class detention," warned Ms Gustavo. Once again, the class shut up right away. She turned around swiftly towards the white and wrote something down. I looked at my worksheet, which I'd been drooling on for the past ten minutes..

I squinted and tried to read the first line, trying to see passed my dyslexia. I mouthed the words to myself: _The Revolutionary War._ Huh, Alvares was pretty far off.

The Alvares dude was new to Chelsea Middle School. He had arrived just last week, which was pretty stupid because there was only four weeks left of school. I looked out the window at the brick wall. Ha, New York City. I knew you had to pay a lot to get a good view, but I wished the school had made an effort to get something else rather than a brick wall.

I tried to concentrate on my work, but my mind kept slipping. I couldn't wait to go to Central Park with my mom. We would have a picnic and watch the sun set. My eyelids kept drooping but I would pinch myself, reminding me that I didn't want to see Ms Gustavo looking down at me again with those dark pits.

The bell rung.

"Please hand in your completed copies tomorrow," shouted Ms Gustavo over the noise as everyone jumped out of their chairs and hurried for the exit. I slowly packed up my things, not really caring about my paper crumpling in my bag.

I stood up and met my teacher and the Alvares kid at the front of the room. I really didn't know his first name and I had never bothered to ask him. He never talked to anyone anyways.

"You two," sighed Ms Gustavo as if she couldn't wait to get rid of us. Which she probably was. She turned towards me and her smile revealed her crooked yellow teeth. Her eyes seemed to grow even darker. "I've been waiting all year to be with you." Something about her didn't seem reassuring and I couldn't help myself but take a step back.

"Um, yeah, that's great," I muttered. I suddenly wanted to get the heck out of that room. I felt my face growing warmer. Ms Gustavo turned to the Alvares kid.

"And you," she continued. "I'm going crazy with two half-bloods in front of me."

The kid frowned and seemed offended. "You're quite rude," he said. It was the first time he'd said anything.

"It's not in the way you think, Damien," hissed Ms Gustavo. She suddenly lunged forward, her left arm making a wide arch towards the both of us. I ducked, grabbing the kid - apparently his name was Damien - with me. We both stumbled back against the teacher's desk.

In the time it had taken us to look back up at our teacher, she was already transforming. Her pants seemed to rip to reveal a hairy leg and a metal leg. Her hair dissolved and was replaced by a ball of fire that made her eyes look even darker. Her canines seemed to grow out of her mouth like a vampire's. Her fingernails grew sharp and strong like talons.

The room was quiet for a few seconds until the kid, Damien, broke the silence. He pointed to the hairy leg and asked, looking slightly disgusted, "Is that a donkey leg?"

"Fools!" roared Ms Gustavo, who looked nothing like before. She lashed out and we both scrambled to our feet, dodging her claws. Damien and I both observed her with curious eyes, leaning against the radiator under the windows. Neither of us wanted to get too close to her.

"Um, what are you?" I asked. She hissed.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity?" she asked, the canines moving up and down.

"No," answered Damien, wrinkling his nose and glancing at her donkey leg. "Not really." Ms Gustavo growled. She was about to step forward when the door opened.

In the doorway stood my english teacher, Mr Bertram. He held what looked like a club in his hands, make from wood and heavy bolts. He was wearing baggy jeans and walked like each step hurt. He didn't dress like any of the other teachers. He was what people called him "laid back". He glanced at the both of us and then at Ms Gustavo. Sweat was trickling down his forehead like he'd just fought through a crowd of people under a blazing sun to get here.

"I've been expecting you," muttered Mr Bertram to Ms Gustavo.

"I was wondering when you'd turn up," growled Ms Gustavo, turning to him. She crouched down and launched herself at my english teacher. Wow, a fight between teachers. I'd never seen that before.

Mr Bertram raised his club and swung it at Ms Gustavo. He knocked her aside and she landed on a desk and rolled off.

"Wow, is this some sort street fight?" asked Damien, rubbing his hands together. He looked excited. Mr Bertram leaped over the desk so easily it looked unnatural.

"How did he do that?" I asked. Mr Bertram slammed his club at Ms Gustavo but she rolled aside and jumped back to her feet.

"You really think you can get me so easily?" asked Ms Gustavo. She swung her hand in an arch and Mr Bertram blocked her with his club. He lowered it and brought it crashing into Ms Gustavo's abdomen. She stumbled back and before she could recover, Mr Bertram pulled out a bronze dagger from his belt and sent it spinning through the air. It hit her in the chest with a thunk and she dissolved into dust. The dagger clattered to the floor and the sound echoed around the quiet room.

Mr Bertram picked it up and looked at the both of us, breathing heavily. "You two have to be more careful," he said.

"What was that?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"An _empousa_ ," said Mr Bertram, slipping the dagger back into his belt. "You two, come with me." He hurried out of the classroom. Damien followed him without a moment's hesitation.

"Please don't let this be another Ms Gustavo," I muttered and quickly followed them.

"Wait," called Damien. Mr Bertram stopped and looked back at the both of us.

"What?" asked Mr Bertram, slightly annoyed.

Damien pointed to the top of Mr Bertram's head. "What are those?" For the first time, I noticed that coming out of my english teacher's curly brown hair were two small horns.

"Horns, now let's go before there are anymore," said Mr Bertram and he began sprinting down the hall in his weird steps, faster that the average person.

"Did he say horns?" asked Damien, glancing at me.

"I hope not," I muttered. We left school, which was totally fine by me.

"Where are we going?" I asked as Mr Bertram tossed an unusually large coin onto the street. It seemed to sink into the pavement.

"Stêthi, Ô hárma diabolês!" he shouted at the cars passing by. Somehow, my brain translated that to: Stop, Chariot of Damnation!

"Somewhere safe. Don't worry, your mom already knows," assured Mr Bertram and a taxi that seemed to be made out of gray smoke materialized in front of us. "Get in, quickly!" He opened the door and ushered us inside. I sat down in an old leathery seat, my thigh pressed against the opposite door, Damien's shoulder pushing against mine. Mr Bertram closed the door behind him and leaned towards the front.

"Oh, hello, Alvin," said the woman at the wheel. The two others turned around and grinned at us. One of them had had her eyes closed and the other had one only one eye open.

"Hey, Wasp," breathed Mr Bertram. "Long time, no see." He was panting heavily, as if he'd just run a mile. "Camp Half-Blood." The one at the wheel slammed her foot down on the gas pedal and the smoke taxi jumped forward so fast my breath caught in my throat and my head slammed against the head-dress.

"Put on your seat belt kids," said the one whose eyes were closed.

"That's a bit late," muttered Damien as he twisted around to grab an old seatbelt. After a lot of twisting and turning and maneuvering, we managed to put on our seatbelts. What would've been an hour long ride took only twenty minutes. The taxi swerved around cars at breakneck speed and the tree ladies kept on chiding and complaining about each other.

Finally, the taxi screeched to a stop on the side of a deserted road, leaving tire marks behind. I quickly opened the car door and threw up on the side of the road. Somewhere far off, I could hear the sounds of waves crashing against a shore and the air smelled strongly of the sea and strawberries. Damien stepped out and looked around. He didn't seem to look sick at all.

"I love strawberries," he said as the taxi sped off behind him and disappeared around a corner. Mr Bertram helped me up and pointed at the hill in front of me. On top of it stood a forty foot tall statue of a woman dressed in a golden chiton and holding a life-size statue of a woman also dressed in a gold chiton with a pair of wings. In her other hand, she had a massive shield taller than the average person and a spear leaned against her shoulder. Her cold ivory eyes stared ahead passed the road.

Next to the statue was a tall pine tree with a golden piece of fabric on it and what looked like a massive boulder under it.

"Quickly," said Mr Bertram, pushing us towards the hill. Something about that one hill was different. It seemed to beg me to come towards it, to climb it. The grass that grew on it seemed greener and healthier. We finally reached the top, where a tall marble arch stood. On it was carved the words Camp Half Blood.

"Wow," I breathed out. Below us lay a large piece of flat land. A few hundred feet away from us was a large blue house with a porch that went all around. A small river flowed towards the middle of the field and on the left was a strawberry field. Farther away, a winged horse emerged from a wooden house. A girl wearing an orange shirt climbed on and the winged-horse flew into the air. Behind the wooden house was a large forest where a creek flowed through. To the right of the wooden house was a small hut, more like a shack and farther to the right a miniature arena. Next to the arena were a cluster of buildings, each one different, arranged in an Omega sign. Farther, there was what seemed to be like a pavilion with a bunch of tables. At one point, the river gathered into a small lake where kids were swimming or jumping off a large boulder. The river continued and emptied out into the ocean, a massive body of water that glittered under the sun. There was a massive climbing wall, where kids dressed in orange shirts avoided the lava that was running down it. Next to the lake was an open air amphitheater and a volleyball court where kids dressed in orange shirts were playing volleyball.

"What is this place?" asked Damien, looking at the kids playing volleyballs. I could hear their shouts from here.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, the safest place on earth."

* * *

 _Author's Note_

Next chapter will be posted next week. Keep reading to find out who are Damien's and Harry's godly parents.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	2. Chapter 2

II

Damien

As soon as we reached the volleyball courts, it seemed as if my father had _finally_ taken notice of me. After thirteen years of total absence in my life, he finally decided to be like, _oh, by the way, you're my kid. Congrats!_

As we were heading down the hill, marching towards the volleyball courts, Mr Bertram quickly explained to the guy, Seawood and I, what we were actually doing here. I still couldn't believe that Greek Mythology was actually coming to life. Well, actually, the gods had been here long before us. The good thing was, I could scratch off science from the things I had to learn in school. If, say, Zeus, controlled the weather, I'd never have to learn what cold fronts were. I'd never need to care about it, not that I was planning to anyways.

The other guy, Seawood… no, I think his name is Harry, well, I guess he's the son of a god or goddess, too. As well as all the other campers here.

Mr Bertram was telling us about the Olympians when he suddenly stopped in his footsteps and stared up at something above my head. All the other volleyball players stopped too and gawked at the same thing.

"What wrong?" I asked and looked up at the sky. Only, there was a fiery red hammer blocking my view. "Wow! What's that!"I panicked, afraid my hair would catch on fire. I started to swat the hammer with my hands and brushing my hair but it did nothing.

"You have been claimed by your father," explained Mr Bertram, and he bowed his head a little.

"What does the hammer mean?" I asked, frowning. I jumped up and tried to grab it but it faded away.

"You are the son of Hephaestus," explained Bertram.

"Who's Hephaestus?" But before Bertram could answer, one of the volleyball players stepped forward and smiled.

"Hi," he said. "I guess we're half-brothers." He held out his hand and I shook it, confused. He looked nothing like me. Where as I had dark brown curly hair and brown eyes and a tanned skin, he had dark green eyes and black hair pulled back in a small bun at the top of his head. He was pretty tall too. "I'm Bill, counselor of Cabin Nine. Follow me, I'll show you around." I glanced at the Seawood guy and he looked a bit sad, but I didn't know him at all, so I didn't feel bad for leaving him behind.

"Sure," I said, turning back to Bill. I followed him to the cluster of buildings. Each one was different. One of them was so gold and bright I had to turn my gaze away. Another one was painted in a blood red color with barbed wire lining the roof and a stuffed boar's head hanging over the entryway. A third one was painting Barbie pink with a pink door, a checkered porch and baby blue columns along the front. A girl ran out of the cabin wearing bright white orthopedic shoes, her make-up a mess.

Bill led me to one of cabins, a brick building that looked like a factory with a heavy metal door, like the entrance to a bank vault. Bill pulled the door open and a cloud of smoke gushed out. Several clicks of machinery were heard.

"I thought this was a camp, not a nuclear weapon storage," I muttered as I followed Bill inside. He chuckled. I stopped in my footsteps, my jaw dropping open.

Bunks lined the walls, but they were set into them. Led lights blinked a little everywhere and the floor was covered in scrap metal, nuts, bolts, screwdrivers, and a bit of anything you could use for machinery. A fire pole came down from the floor above, which had seemed nonexistent from the outside. A circular staircase led to the floor below, where sounds of metal banging against metal rang. The air was heavy and warm and there was a slight odor of perspiration hanging around.

"So, I'm guessing that Hephaestus is the god of," I started but paused, wrinkling my nose. "Sweat?"

Bill laughed. "No." He shook his head. "He's the god of blacksmiths. Which explains the vault door and the perspiration." A smile tugged at the side of my mouth.

"Here, you might want to wear this," Bill continued, handing me an orange shirt with the words Camp Half Blood printed on it. I swung it over my shoulder. Bill walked over to a nearby bunk. I noticed that it had a thin layer of dust on it.

"This will be your bunk, you can customize it however you want. Most Hephaestus kids do crazy stuff with it," explained Bill. The bunk had a built-in game station at the footboard and a stereo system in the headboard, a glass door refrigerator set in the wall, and a bunch of control panels running down the sides.

"Holy-" I started and leaned over to push a button on one of the control panels. A TV appeared out of the wall at the foot of the bed and turned on. A college football game started to play.

"It's been empty for years now," said Bill. I stopped and glanced back at the counselor.

"What happened to the guy who built this?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer.

"Well, the first guy, he died. The second guy kinda disappeared, but he's still alive," explained Bill.

"How do you know he's still alive? Some kind of voodoo magic or something?" I asked, a bit creeped out.

"No, the children of Hades can sense if someone is dead or not," Bill said.

"So you're giving me a living guy's bunk who disappeared?" I asked. Bill nodded. I shrugged and let myself fall on the bunk.

"Anyways, want to see the forges?" asked Bill.

* * *

Author's Note

Next chapter will be posted in five days since this one was so short. Keep reading to find out who Harry's godly parent is. And please leave a review, it helps me a lot.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	3. Chapter 3

III

Harry

After Damien left, I stood there awkwardly with Mr Bertram.

"It is unusual you haven't been claimed yet," said Mr Bertram, stroking his brown beard. "I have a report to give to Chiron, I'll let another camper show you around." The group of volleyball players had started the game again. Two muscular kids standing on each side of the net were arguing about what the score was and a fight seemed to be on the verge of breaking out between them, but the others didn't seem to notice. Or maybe they just ignored them.

"Zoe, I need you," called Mr Bertram to a girl a few feet away from us. She looked up and her stance relaxed. She stood upright and joined the two of us, taking her shoes as she went. Her light brown eyes complimented her dirty blonde hair and she was tall for her age even though she seemed around twelve.

"Hi," she said, giving me a little wave. "I'm Zoe."

"I'm Harry." She was wearing very short denim shorts and an orange short with the words Camp Half Blood printed on it. She also had a dagger at her side, which I didn't expect to see.

"Zoe, will you show Harry around. And get him a weapon from the armory, too," said Mr Bertram. "If he get's claimed by you know…" His voice became very quiet as the last few words left his mouth. He quickly stole a glance at me and back at Zoe. She nodded comprehensively. Mr Bertram nodded in thanks and turned around.

"Come on, let's go," she said, turning around. She slipped on her shoes. I followed her, a little intimidated by her height.

"What did he mean by, you know…?" I didn't really know how to phrase the question.

"He means, if you're claimed by one of the Big Three," explained Zoe, stepping around the sandy volleyball court.

"What are the Big Three?"

"You mean _who_ they are," said Zoe, turning back to me. Her pace was faster than mine and I had to make my strides longer to keep up with her.

"Yeah whatever," I muttered and to my surprise, Zoe chuckled.

"They're Poseidon, Zeus and Hades," she explained.

"Who are they?"

"Hades is the god of the Underworld where all the dead people go, Zeus controls the sky and Poseidon the sea," she continued.

"Are you a daughter of the Big Three?" I asked, figuring that if everyone was a child of a god or goddess, then she should also be one too. She laughed coldly.

"Of course, I'm not," she said, shaking her head. "I'm the daughter of Hermes… He's the god of travel, thieves, athletes, blah blah blah. He's the god of a lot of things. We usually don't mention our father being the god of thieves, though. Being the god of athletes sounds much better."

"When am I supposed to be claimed?" Zoe shrugged.

"Either when you turn thirteen or when your father thinks it's the right time," Zoe said. She looked me over, going to my scrawny body, to my emerald green eyes, to my chestnut brown hair. "I can't exactly figure out who your father would be though. Probably a son of Hermes, because honestly, nothing stands out about you. An Ares kid sometimes induces anger in people, but you seem pretty peaceful. A son of Hades would be much paler than you and wouldn't really socialize, but you seem to like people, and you look like you like spending time in the sun."

"So, how many gods does that leave?" I asked, counting on my fingers. Zoe didn't bother counting.

"A lot," she answered, turning away from me. "This is the lake." We had reached the small lake I'd seen earlier. A fifteen year old boy cannonballed into the water and sprayed us with water. "We could get you a bathing suit. I think you should see the Naiads at the bottom. It's pretty cool."

"Sure," I said, even though I had no idea what Naiads were. We went to Zoe's cabin and I spotted Damien walking into a brick cabin that looked a lot like a factory. Two cabins away was the Hermes Cabin, a simple looking building with a front porch, peeling brown paint and a caduceus on the front door.

Zoe opened the door and we stepped into a very messy room, messier than a college dorm ravaged by a tornado. Bunks lined the walls but they seemed to be constantly moving places judging by the many scratch marks on the floor. There was a carpet in the middle that was worn to the thread but it seemed as if it had never been moved. Piles of clothes and wrappers created a maze that we had to weave through to reach the other side.

Zoe opened a large dresser in a corner of the room, filled with anything from water goggles to deadly looking swords, to lost watches. She picked out a blue and green bathing suit and threw it to me.

"It's been in here for ages," she explained. "It smells like laundry so it should be fine."

"About how long has it been in there?" I asked, sniffing it. Thankfully, it did smell like clean laundry.

"Eight, maybe be nine," shrugged Zoe.

"Months?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Nah, years," she corrected and smiled at the look on my face. "It should be fine."

* * *

I stood on top of the rock, looking down at the green water below me. It seemed as if it was cleaner than any lake I'd been in.

"Aren't you going to jump?" asked someone behind me. Now that I was here, it seemed higher than before.

I turned around to see a bulky boy of about sixteen, maybe seventeen standing behind me. Probably a son of Ares, the war god. I slowly stepped back until my toes reached the edge and my heels stood over empty air.

"Well, hurry!" he shouted, suddenly angry. He moved to push me into the water, but I grabbed his hands and spun him over the edge. I let go of his wrists and backflipped into the water. I opened my eyes and looked around. The water was surprisingly clear and I thought I could make out the bottom. I spotted the boy swimming towards me, his face appearing out of the bubbles that formed around him when he'd jumped in. He reached out to grab me but the water slowed him down.

I twisted my body so that my face faced the bottom and kicked. I swam until I reached the mud. I let my feet touch a spot where the seaweeds didn't grow. The boy was following me but his breath was running out. He reached out to grab me but I stepped aside and he missed. He grunted and a large bubble of air left his mouth. He swam back up to the surface and I watched as he swam away from me towards the shore.

I had plenty of oxygen left so I sat down on the bottom of the lake. A teenage girl swam towards me and let her body glide through the water until she reached me. Her feet touched the mud next to me and she crouched down. She smiled casually and I noticed her chest was moved up and down. Her hair flowed smoothly around her face. I mouthed the word _hi_ and she waved at me, smiling again. I pointed towards the surface and waved goodbye to her. I pushed off the mud and let myself glide back up.

A few seconds later, I breathed in fresh air and looked around. Zoe was swimming towards me, looking worried.

"Gods, what were you thinking?" she asked, reaching me. "Do you know how dangerous it is to mess with the Ares kids?"

"No, not really," I answered honestly.

"You better watch your back from now on," warned Zoe as we swam back towards shore. The Ares guy had disappeared. We dressed and left the lake. "Maybe we should get you a weapon."

We arrived to the metal shack which was located right behind a gray cabin. Zoe opened the door and inside, instead of gardening tools, were hundreds of spears, swords, daggers, armor and even shotguns.

"So, what do you recommend?" I asked, eyeing her dagger. Her hand moved towards it.

"Oh, I don't usually use a dagger," She explained. "I'm trying to learn it though. I usually use a short sword, but my tricks mostly do the work for me. Besides, I luckily haven't had to fight many monsters before."

"Is swordfighting easy to learn?" I asked.

"Depends how fast you are," shrugged Zoe. "Beginners usually begin with swords anyways; they're the most common." She picked out a sword that seemed to be made of bronze.

"I didn't know you made swords out of bronze," I pointed out.

"It's Celestial bronze, one of the only metals that kills monsters," explained Zoe. She took out her dagger and handed it to me. "And it can also kill demigods." My fingers brushed the blade. It was cold.

"We're demigods, right?" I asked. She nodded and the shack seemed to get colder and gloomier. The dust was making my nose runny. I looked around at the swords, sniffing. I glanced at the spears and then back at the swords. And I noticed a keychain sitting on a shelf next to a rapier. It hadn't been there before, I knew it. I picked it up.

On the ring was attached a thin Celestial bronze plate. Engraved on the plate was a shape, but I couldn't make it out. Suddenly, the plate extended and in my hand, I was holding a sword, the grip seemed as if it were a mold of my hand. Even though I knew nothing about swords, I knew that the balance was perfect.

"This is the one," I said, shining light off the blade and onto a piece of armor. Zoe shrugged.

"Okay, if you say so," she said and we left the armory. The sword shrank back into a normal keychain and I slipped it into my pocket. "We'll be having dinner at six, would you like to go see the beach."

For some reason, a part of me longed to see the water gleaming in the sunlight. I'd only been to the beach once before.

We skirted the forest. At one point I heard a sound and stopped in my steps.

"Did you hear that?" I asked, looking through the leaves.

"Yeah, probably just a dryad," sadi Zoe, shrugging. "By the way, you can't go in there without Chiron's permission. There are monsters."

"I thought monsters weren't allowed at Camp." I'd never thought I would say that before.

"They aren't, but sometimes it's good to get a bit of target practice," said Zoe, walking again. I followed her, though I did keep an eye on the dark forest.

"Who's this guy you were talking about," I asked. I couldn't remember his name. It sounded like sky.

"Chiron?" guessed Zoe. I snapped my fingers.

"Yes! Who's he?" I asked.

"The camp counselor. He's in charge of pretty much everything. You should meet him one day. Maybe at archery tomorrow. If you don't get claimed by tonight, you'll join my cabin," explained Zoe. We reached the beach.

"It's bigger than I thought," I said, surprised, looking at the large expanse of sand on both sides. I took off my shoes and socks and let them drop on the sand. We walked down the beach towards the water and I let a wave wash over my feet. The tiredness that had been building up in me since I'd left school seemed to wash away with the tide. To my right and left, the sea extended until it met with the sky on the horizon. To me, this was the most beautiful sight I'd ever see.

It suddenly dawned on me that I'd been in school just an hour ago. How was that possible? Wouldn't the school begin to worry about my absence? I shook it off.

I pointed out to sea. "That's long island sound, right?" Zoe nodded. She stepped into the water until she was ankle deep.

"The Hephaestus kids make the best fireworks on the Fourth of July," said Zoe. She pointed at the sky in front of us. "They're really cool. You'll see them this summer and you won't want to go see anyone else's."

My mind wandered to Damien Alvares, the kid I barely knew, yet it seemed I'd gone through so much with him. I'd never talked to him.

"The cabins are arranged by who your godly parent is, right?"

"Yep."

"So if my father doesn't claim me by tonight, where will I sleep?"

"In the Hermes cabin, that's where every unclaimed kid goes. There aren't as many as there used to be, most are claimed by the age of thirteen or earlier." Zoe looked at the horizon, where you could just make out the Bronx area.

"How long have you been here?" I asked and immediately regretted it. Zoe's face turned sad and I knew I'd hit a soft spot.

"A few years," she answered. She must've been nearly thirteen, but she knew that the bathing suit I was wearing had been in the dresser for about nine years. That meant she had been three years old when she arrived, if she had actually stayed that long here.

"Oh." I had the feeling I shouldn't push the questions. Maybe if I'd known her longer. I had the feeling I'd need to know her for a long time before asking her personal questions. Zoe seemed pretty confidential about her life outside of camp.

"Do people stay here all year long?" I asked.

"Yeah, the powerful demigods, like children of the Big Three, do since they are more likely to be attacked by monsters than kids from the minor gods."

"Are there many children of the Big Three?" I asked.

"No, not many," she answered, shrugging. "Especially since World War II."

"What happened during World War II?"

"Some kids of the Big Three got into a fight and that's pretty much how the War started. After it was over, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades decided to never have anymore children with mortals. Of course, they broke that promise and a few were born. But ever since those kids left camp, no more children of the Big Three have made their appearance here."

She showed me the rest of the camp, but she didn't seem as happy as before, it was as if the wall she had built for years had been temporarily destroyed and then built back up in a second, and this time, it was even stronger.

She was careful with her words and I knew she was doing everything possible not to mention her life in the outside world.

"If you live here all year long, do you ever go in the outside world?" I asked.

"It depends what for," said Zoe as we walked towards the dinning pavilion. "We had a field trip once to Mount Olympus. Or if you go on a quest."

"What's a quest? I mean, I know what the word quest means, but what for?" I asked.

Zoe seemed distant, as if she were thinking about something sad. "A demigod gets a prophecy, they take two others with them and then they set out on their journey. Sometimes it's a simple as getting an object from a god and deliver it to someone else. Sometimes, the fate of the world lies on your shoulders."

"So you're telling me that demigods are in charge of saving the world?" I asked. "Like teenagers?"

"Yeah, mostly, since most demigods don't live to see adulthood," shrugged Zoe.

"So, I'm going to die before I can even go to college?" I asked. That seemed pretty sad.

"It depends, if your mom or dad is an Olympian, you'll probably die before eighteen, if you're the child of a minor god, you'll probably have a chance at life," said Zoe. I looked at the demigods crowding around the mess hall. In a matter of years, this whole generation would be wiped out. Pretty sad.

We reached the mess hall and Zoe led me to the Hermes table where a dozen kids were already sitting down. I spotted Damien on the other side of the mess hall, sitting with a bunch of kids that looked like they'd just walked out of a fire alive.

After everyone sat down, a table at the center was filled up with different people. Including a man with a horse's body. He was the only one not to sit down.

"Everyone, let me introduce to you Harry and Damien," he said. Zoe whispered to me to stand up so I quickly did, along with Damien, who looked like he'd just walked through a fire too. There was the mark of goggles on his face, the rest was covered in what looked like soot. I briefly wondered what he'd been doing the previous hours. I couldn't really see him because of the large bonfire separating us. I sat back down; I wasn't used to having two hundred and forty campers staring at me.

"You get your food like this," explained Zoe. She looked down at her plate and said, "Cheeseburger and fries." A cheeseburger and fries appeared on her plate. "And then you go make an offering to your godly parent."

"But I don't know who my godly parent is," I said stupidly, because she obviously knew that.

"I know," she said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, order up."

I licked my lips. "Chicken quesadillas." I wasn't Hispanic or anything, but I loved quesadillas. A pile of chicken quesadillas appeared on my plate.

"You want a drink too?" asked Zoe. She looked at her cup and said, "Coke."

It filled up with Coke. "Sprite," I said to my own cup. It filled up with the fizzy drink and I grinned.

"C'mon, let's go offer something to whoever is your godly parent." We both stood up. Zoe threw half of her fries and a piece of cheeseburger into the bonfire. They disappeared.

"Who did you offer it to?" I asked. She said her father. I looked at the bonfire and threw in a few quesadillas.

 _Hope you like quesadillas,_ I thought, _Please, if you're out there…_

I figured my father would know what I meant, so I walked away and sat back down next to Zoe. An hour later, the plates disappeared and the Ares kids stood up and shouted like barbarians.

"Capture the flag," groaned Zoe. "They're on our team, along with Hephaestus cabin, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Iris, and Hypnos." The whole team gathered around the Ares table. They had spread out a map of the woods. The boy who I'd pushed into the lake was assigning positions.

He noticed me standing with the Hermes kids. "Hermes cabin, you'll be first attackers. Weaken their defenses. Ares, we'll be the second wave. We'll be enough to destroy the rest of their defenses and capture the flag. Hypnos people, you guys will stay at the line and hypnotize anyone who tries to trespass. Hephaestus and Dionysus, I want you guys to rig up some traps, as many as you can. Aphrodite, Iris, stop anyone who passes Hypnos lines of defense. Got it? Gear up!"

Everyone grabbed at pieces of armor left on the table and on the floor. Zoe helped me adjust the breast plate and shin guards. She gave me a helmet a bit too big so she stuffed pieces of toilet paper in it.

"They put us as first line of offense, basically those who weaken the defense and are out before they know it. Athena's cabin is going to win for sure," she kept on grumbling while adjusting her armor at the same time.

We headed out to the forest and someone placed our flag, a bloody red piece of cloth, on the top of Zeus' fist.

There was a loud whistle and the Hermes kids were pushed forward. I followed them across the creek, no one in sight.

"Wait," whispered one the Hermes kids.

"I feel a trap up ahead," said Zoe. How could you feel a trap? We continued creeping forward, the Hermes kids were much more stealthy than I would've thought. Zoe pointed up at the thick tree. Over our heads were large pots of boiling liquid. I didn't want to know what the liquid did.

We continued. The forest was completely silent it seemed to press down around us as if it were a blanket.

There were a dozen war cries and campers dressed in armor jumped out of the bushes in front of us. Without a moment's hesitation, the Hermes cabin charge forward, swords raised. Zoe grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the nearby bushes.

"We need to make it to the flag, we can't let Ares get it." We left the sound of clashing metal and war cries was an explosion behind us.

"What was that?" I asked, panicking.

"They tried to attack, the Hephaestus traps seem to be working pretty well," explained Zoe. Arrows started raining down on us. "Apollo!" shouted Zoe and she pulled me forward behind a boulder. Arrows ricochet against the boulder and there were several small explosions.

"They trapped us," Zoe muttered glancing around the boulder. She suddenly jumped back and an arrow zipped by and landed in a tree trunk.

"That was close," she breathed. "Let's go." She jumped out from behind the boulder and hid behind a large tree trunk, rolling. A wave of arrows followed.

"Come out! We know there's two of you!" yelled a camper. I jumped out from behind the boulder and landed very ungracefully on top of Zoe. She pushed me off, cursing. A dozen of arrows pierced the ground behind me.

"Be careful," she muttered. "Oh my gods, there it is!" She pointed to something. It was a small clearing, the flag planted in the very middle of it. The flag was green, with a piece of wheat drawn on it. "Demeter's flag... I have a feeling some roots are going to jump out of nowhere and attack us." It didn't sound like a joke, but somehow, it didn't sound very serious either.

"So, what do we do?" I asked, looking at the plain clearing. "The flag's right there."

"We run for it," she whispered. She stood up and ran right into the clearing, sword drawn. Nothing happened. She grabbed the flag and began to run back when a wall vegetation rose out of nowhere and slammed into her. Roots grabbed her ankles and within second, she found herself upside down, stems wrapped around her ankles.

"Harry!" she shouted. I rushed into the clearing and took the flag before the roots could capture her wrists. My hand slipped into my pocket and I took out my keychain.

"I didn't know plants could be so dangerous," I muttered as a dozen roots shot out of the trees and formed a thick wall in front of me. I had to stop for a second and I stared at the roots.

They suddenly exploded, water spraying everywhere, and a small hole appeared in the wall. I jumped though, rolled and got back on my feet. I was covered in greenish water from the plants. Meanwhile, my sword was in my hand and I used it to parry a few arrows. Somehow, none of them seemed to touch me. A row of campers appeared, forming a solid line. I could feel the creek just behind them, it was making my brain go crazy. Somehow, I knew it was only ten meters away. And then nine.

The line of enemies wouldn't stop me. It felt like nothing could. I felt powerful, unstoppable. I jumped over the line. It seemed as if I was in the air for ages, the world slowed down. I felt arrows fly by my head and swords try to hack at my legs. I landed in the creek and energy flowed through me, adding to the flood of adrenaline already pumping through my veins. I held up the flag triumphantly so everyone could see.

My team rushed towards me and carried me on their shoulders and the world turned a dark blue at the corners of my vision.

* * *

Minutes later, we were gathered around the bonfire in the amphitheater. The flames rose higher than a normal bonfire. Maybe twenty feet high and bright yellow. The Apollo cabin led the sing-along and even if I wasn't a very good singer, I still participated. Zoe sat next to me.

The song ended and the Apollo cabin prepared for a second song, but they didn't start it. After a moment, I saw that everyone was staring at me. No, at something above my head.

I looked up and a blue green trident glowed above me. Zoe was staring at it, her jaw dropping open. And everyone fell to one knee, facing me, bowing their heads.

Chiron the centaur stepped forward on the stage.

"Hail, Harry Seawood, son of Poseidon."

* * *

Author's Note

So, my upload schedule isn't very consistent...so what? Next chapter will be in two or three days, depending on how bored I am. Keep reading to find out Zoe's view on things.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	4. Chapter 4

IV

Zoe

How did I not notice it sooner? First, he spends a whole two minutes underwater even though it's obvious he's never been to a pool in years. Second, he blasts away Demeter kids' roots by just standing there. It's pretty obvious he can't even water plants without drowning them. And third, that look in his eyes when I told him that we would go to the beach wasn't normal.

It turns out I was in charge of bringing him to Cabin Three, a low building with all the windows facing the sea. The outside walls were made of gray stone will seashells and corals embedded in it. I pushed open the door. I'd never been inside; most people weren't allowed to go inside someone else's cabin unless it was some kind of emergency.

The cabin was furnished with six empty bunks covered in a small layer of dust and in a corner was a fountain made of gray sea rock with a fossilized fish that spewed out water. The fountain had decorations of corals and such. On the ceiling were bronze hippocampi statuettes and on the windowsills were what looked like underwater plants. On one of the bunks were a few changes of clothes and a toothbrush.

"Well, um, good night, I guess," I said to Harry.

"Wait," he said. He looked as lost as when I'd first seen him. It looked a little cute on him. _No, there's no time for that, Zoe._ I blinked.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"So, no monsters are going to attack?" he asked. He glanced out the window towards the sea and for the first time, I noticed that the sound of the waves seemed somehow amplified in here. On the outside, it sounded like a far-off rumbling but in here, it was felt like I was standing right next to the waves. The smell of the sea was much more intense here, too. I hated that smell.

"No, this is the safest place on earth," I shook my head and pushed away the urge to wrinkle my nose. "There's really nothing to worry about. Unless you're scared of your dad showing up here any second now." Harry chuckled.

"Well, thanks for everything," he said. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." I shrugged.

"No problem," I said and quickly left the cabin. I breathed in the fresh air, glad the urge to puke every time I opened my mouth was gone.

Everyone was in their cabin already and I was left alone outside, in the dark. I looked up at the stars and thought of my father, Hermes. He'd claimed me nine years ago, ten years before he was supposed to. It was already unusual to be claimed before turning thirteen, but when you're three…? I was a weird case.

"You're still wondering about that, aren't you?" I jumped and spun around. Standing in front of me was a middle-aged man with curly black hair and blue eyes. He wore light clothing and running sneakers, as if he was about to race in the Olympics. But the shoes had small fluttering wings on them and he carried a caduceus in his right hand with two snakes weaving lazily around it. I realized that it wasn't a simple caduceus, like the one hanging on my cabin's door. It was _the_ Caduceus.

"Hermes?" If it was really my father…

"That's me," he grinned, revealing perfect white teeth. "I know you're mad at me for not seeing you before…"

I clenched my jaw shut so I wouldn't scream at him in anger. "Why today?" I managed to ask.

"Because, this is the point in your life where everything changes," he said.

"Are you serious?" I couldn't help it. " _This_ is when it all changes? Don't you think after all I went through when I was a toddler, my life hadn't changed yet? I can't even remember my mother's face clearly!" Hermes' expression turned sad.

"I know," he said, nodding. As if he understood all the world's problems. "But I didn't want you to miss out on all the training you could get."

"What?" I yelled. "Look at Ben, he arrived a month ago and he's already on a quest!"

"Ben is a different case. Besides he's not my child," said Hermes calmly, as if everything was completely normal. "You have a very dangerous future ahead of you. And Harry is your only way out."

I pointed to Cabin Three. "That guy?" I asked. "He just got here!"

"Harry is the only way your life will change," Hermes said, shaking his head. "You've got to trust him. Even if he seems like he's good at nothing… you'll see, there's much more to him than you would think."

"Why didn't I get a quest sooner?" I asked. I hated Hermes, after all he'd done to ruin my old life, there was no way I could listen to him without doubting him.

"Because…" Hermes looked at his feet, sighing.

"Because I'm not good enough?" I asked. I suddenly wanted to him to leave me alone. He was such a jerk.

"No, it's because… because my children aren't always trusted, you know with all the trickery," Hermes explained. An old story surfaced back in my head. One of his sons, I couldn't remember who, had stolen something powerful from someone, he'd betrayed the whole camp. "You are the child who will prove that my children aren't disloyal. You will prove that they are more powerful than you think. And Harry is the person who'll help you."

"How?"

"He'll get a quest in two weeks. You need to go with him. And the other kid, Damien, he's going to have to come too. In the end, you'll be the one who'll make the quest succeed." Hermes was quiet. I glanced at Cabin Three and saw Harry getting into bed. He disappeared from view.

"So, you want me to prove that your children are worthy?" I asked. Hermes nodded.

"And you are the one who I've chosen." We looked at each other. "I've been watching you ever since you've come to camp. You're different from my other children… Don't disappoint me." I blinked and he was gone. Just like that. Snap. Wow, great pep talk, dad.

I glanced at Cabin Three again. The boy sleeping inside was the only kid that could help me redeem the Hermes Cabin. I just hoped he would assume the role, even if he didn't know he had one.

I turned around towards the Hermes Cabin, where my siblings slept peacefully. I'd been their counselor for just two weeks, and in two weeks, I would be gone. Dead or alive, I wouldn't be here.

* * *

Author's Note

Next chapter will be posted in two or three days. Keep reading to find out what the quest is going to be about.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	5. Chapter 5

V

Damien

I'd barely slept last night. The thought of sleeping in someone else's bed, someone who had disappeared a long time ago, had haunted me. Who was this guy anyways? Every time I tried to ask what his name was, the person would become all gloomy and stuff.

At one point, I was tired of turning around in bed. I sat up and looked through all the files stored in the bed. Wow, I'd never thought I'd think something like that. Files in a bed.

There were diagram of a massive ship, a metal dragon, and a weird sphere. The metal dragon really interested me and I spent a few hours studying it. I wasn't as good as the other Hephaestus kids when it came to building, but at the same time, I'd never spent much time building things until I was around nine, when I moved to the United States from Portugal. Here, my grandfather taught me the basics of engineering. In Portugal, my mother owned a workshop but she never let me to go inside for some reason.

I spent the next two weeks working on my project. My hands were starting to move faster but still not as fast as the others. I found that I was much better at mathematics than the rest of them and they often had me revise all their calculations.

One day, I was tinkering with a delicate piece of instrument when I dropped the screwdriver I'd been holding in my hands. For some reason, each time I tried to do something delicate, my hands would start shaking uncontrollably. Someone opened the door as I was bending and I jumped up. My head slammed against the table.

"You okay?" asked Bill, picking up a box on one of the workbenches. I rubbed my forehead, annoyed.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I muttered slamming my screwdriver on the workbench.

"Ok," said Bill, trying to sound casually but there was a small tone of uneasiness. "You know, it's not always easy at first. Then, there's a click and it feels like you can build anything you want, even without the right materials." I usually didn't get mad, but when I did, it was because something didn't go right for me.

"Ok," I breathed out. "Thanks." Bill left the workshop without another word. The Hephaestus kids had quickly learned about my minor anger issues and knew they should quickly get out of the shop before it got too bad.

I checked my watch. It was four in the afternoon. The Hephaestus kids weren't the best at shooting arrows or jabbing with swords. Our thing was machines. Building and rebuilding. Most of us spent our time in the workshop, practicing our skills or inventing new things. I couldn't remember the last time I'd tried to shoot an arrow at Camp Half-Blood. Two weeks ago, I think, when I'd first arrived. Yeah, I remember now. I'd completely missed the target and nearly impaled an Apollo kid who was picking up his own arrow.

I hadn't seen Harry much, or that girl he was with, Zoe. She was pretty cute, but she seemed guarded, as if she was keeping a secret. She didn't seem to have many friends since every time I saw her, she was with Harry. I'm beginning to wonder if there's a thing between the both of them.

I've heard people talk about this guy named Ben, the son of Apollo, who got a quest in his very first month at camp. I don't really know what he's doing though.

I stared at the small device I was trying to improve, but it kept blocking every time it unfolded. I slammed my fist down on the table in anger and brushed my arm over the surface of the table, sweeping the device to the floor.

"Go die!" I yelled at it. I kicked it aside and sat down staring at the broken device. I let my hand lie flat on the table. It grew warmer under my touch until I jumped back, yelping. Where my hand had been was a steaming imprint. I glanced at my hand in horror. Suddenly it burst into flames and I shook it helplessly.

After what seemed like ages, the fire extinguished and I touched my hand. It wasn't warm or cold and it didn't have any burns on it. Very slowly, I held up my hand and a small flame appeared at the tip of my index finger.

Suddenly, I felt drained of energy and I realized it was the flame that was doing this. It took all my willpower to have it disappear. I picked up my broken invention and set it on the table. I left the workshop and joined Bill, who was crossing the small river.

"Bill! Wait!" I called and he turned around. He waved to me and smiled.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked as I walked up to him.

"Yeah fine. Did you say Hephaestus was the god of fire?" I asked. We arrived on the other side and walked towards the stables.

"Yeah why?" he asked, his expression became a little concerned for some reason.

"You said his kids could making impressive machinery… But can they also control fire?"

"They can, but it's considered a bad omen." Bill blinked a few times. "Very few people have that ability. They usually don't want anyone knowing about it."

"Why?" Fire was pretty cool, why would you not want to show off a few fireball tricks to your friends from time to time?

"One of them caused the Great Fire of London," explained Bill. "They usually set things on fire by accident and it's hard to control it."

"How do you know?" I asked, frowning.

Bill hesitated and at that moment a pegasus emerged from the stables and flew over our heads.

"You want to go riding with me?" asked Bill.

Minutes later, I was standing next to a pegasus, one of the girls had told me his name was Sushi.

"Why Sushi?" I asked, mounting the winged horse.

The girl helping me raised her eyebrows and said, "Why Damien?" I laughed and asked her what her name was.

"Emi," she said.

"I'm - oh, right you already know my name," I realized, shaking my head. Emi's hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She had skin the color of coffee and soft brown eyes. She spoke with a slight French accent and I supposed she was a daughter of Aphrodite.

"Have fun," she said and led me outside. "Just don't hold on too tightly, Sushi doesn't like it." I grinned and spurred Sushi.

He spread out his massive wings and jumped into the air, pushing down on its wings to gain altitude. I gripped his white mane and shrieked. I hated heights. I tried not to look at the ground getting farther and farther beneath me.

Bill was just ahead of me, waiting for me to catch up. Each time Sushi beat its wings, my body was pushed down into his powerful being and I could feel the smalls of his back underneath me. Slowly, I leaned to the side, my grip getting tighter on Sushi's mane. He grunted and I quickly apologized.

Underneath us lay the whole camp. I made out the forest, where I'd played capture the flag along with all the campers last week and the week before. I spotted my cabin somewhere in the Omega shape. I saw Harry walk out of Cabin Three.

I still couldn't believe he was a son of Poseidon. He didn't look that powerful at all. At the very least, a son of Hermes, because, let's face it, Hermes kids don't look very good at anything except stealing.

"What's taking you so long, Damien?" shouted Bill up, cupping his hands over his mouth. For a terrifying moment, his knees were the only thing keeping him from falling off. He quickly grabbed his pegasus' mane to stabilize himself. He too was scared of heights. It seemed like a common thing among the Hephaestus kids. Something about my dad being thrown down from Olympus…

I quickly joined Bill. "So what do you want to do?" He asked. I shrugged and asked him what they usually did when riding pegasi.

He shrugged too. "Ah, sometimes races. I mostly come up here to, you know, overcome my fear of heights. I've been doing it for five years and I'm still scared every time I ride pegasus. It doesn't really seem to work, honestly."

I laughed and said, "I once tried to overcome my fear of school. Turns out I'm not exactly scared of it, just allergic."

"Good joke." He laughed. My expression grew serious.

"No, I actually am." He saw my expression and stopped laughing.

"How's that possible?" he asked, frowning and confused.

"My mom found out when I was eight. It turns out I'm allergic to the markers they used to write on white boards… Unfortunately for me, they changed all of them to black boards the next year. Just for me," I explained, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips. We had a good laugh.

"Man, I love your jokes… Well, that wasn't a joke but still, you're pretty funny, man," Bill said, a small smile still on his lips. Suddenly, something knocked the two pegasi over and we both lost our grips.

My hands looked for something to hold on to. A hoof, or a wing. Nothing. I let out a cry, limbs flailing. It had happened so suddenly. The sky, sea and earth seem to merge into one as I was sent spinning into thin air. I found myself still yelling.

I was accelerating and the spinning was upsetting my stomach. I heard cries from below, getting closer and closer. The wind whistled in my ears.

And then, there was a terrible pain along my side and my head hit something like concrete and I felt myself slipping away instantly.

* * *

I was standing in a dark cavern. Three dark figures were standing in front of me. They had been attached by chains to three large poles so they hung in mid-air. The one in the middle was the tallest one. Their chin rested on their chest and their ragged breathing made their head go up and down slowly. The one on the right was smaller and there was a tear along their stomach. Blood dripped down slowly and hit the ground with a steady beat. The one on the left groaned and their head lifted upright. Long hair flowed over their shoulders.

They began to struggle, slowly at first, and then faster. Heavy steps resonated behind me. I tried to turn around but it seemed as if I too was bound and could only move my eyes.

"Ah, so you're awake," growled a deep voice behind me. They stepped into my field of vision. I choked back a cry. He was thirty feet tall with scaly skin and massive dragon legs and feet instead of… something more human. Massive golden chain hanging around his neck casted light from a nearby torch to the walls. He wore what looked like an ugly velvet suit and his hair was greased back Al Capone style.

"This guy ain't very attractive," I muttered, and even though I couldn't make his face, he still seemed ugly.

"What do you want?" asked the person on the left. It was obviously a girl, though I couldn't tell how old she was. She let herself hang from her wrists. She groaned as her shoulders relaxed and the cuffs bit into her wrists.

"Oh, you know, a sacrifice," the giant said and let out a humourless laugh. "I know someone who needs a few demigods to do his dirty dirty work."

"And who is that?" hissed the girl through clenched teeth. She was breathing heavily as if each time her chest moved, her body hurt.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough, little demigod," chuckled the giant.

"Who are you?" asked the girl.

"I am Hippolytos., nice to meet you…?" The giant bowed slowly, sarcastically.

"Why do you care about my name? After all, I'm only going to do someone's dirty work," said the girl angrily.

 _Wow_ , I thought, _good comeback._ The giant, Hippo-something, didn't seem to like that very much.

"Do you realize how hard it is these days to catch demigods?" growled Hyppo. "It's a wonder we found three demigods wandering around the city, clueless."

"Because you think we usually know what we're doing during quests?" asked the girl and she laughed coldly. "You've got a lot to learn from us."

"And you've got to a lot to learn from us too," retorted Hyppo. "Such as the fact that we've found a way."

"A way to what?" I could tell she was trying to hide her panic. And her curiosity.

I wasn't the only one to notice it either. Hyppo chuckled drily, as if he knew something she didn't, which he obviously did. "Ah, but then you'd know too much about us, wouldn't you? All I'll tell you is that you'll help us greatly, you and your two friends."

The room was fading, as well as my consciousness. But I had time for one more thought:

 _Man, this guy's got some burns too._

* * *

Author's Note

Next chapter will be posted in two or three days. Keep reading to find out what the quest is going to be about (hint: there's going to be a prophecy!)

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either.


	6. Chapter 6

VI

Harry

I was watching a massive horseshoe crab slowly making it's way back to the sea when I heard someone calling my name.

"Harry!" It was a cry of panic and I quickly spun around. Zoe was rushing towards me. She stopped a few feet away and pointed up at the sky. I looked to where she was pointing and squinted, blocking the sun with my hand.

I spotted two things falling from the sky, one of them spinning out of control, limbs flailing. I could hear shouts coming from them. A little farther up were two pegasi rushing after them, trying to catch them. In an instant, I knew they wouldn't catch up to the campers in time.

I glanced back at Zoe, who looked desperate. I jumped over the coming wave and dove into the next one, piercing through it like a needle in a cloth. I emerged from the water, glanced up at the two falling campers, and dove back under.

There was no way I could get to them on time. I could get there maybe a second later if I…

I'd heard someone talking to another camper about the children of the gods being able to control what their parent was able to control. So if Poseidon controlled the sea, maybe I could too.

I closed my eyes and let myself sink. I felt currents brush past me, racing towards the shore, coming back out, and then towards the shore again.

And I breathed in. For a second I panicked, thinking about all the water in my lungs. But when I breathed out, I felt air bubbles come out from my nose. I breathed in again, slowly.

I pushed my hands down my side and the currents catapulted me forward. I clenched my eyes shut, although I could clearly see through the water without it stinging. Somewhere ahead, I made out two figures slowly drifting towards the bottom of the ocean, limp.

I willed the currents to curve down towards them. I reached out and grabbed the first one's arm and then the second one's. I looked back up and kicked. In a split second, I was breathing in the fresh air.

I coughed as a reflex, but no water was trapped in my lungs. The salt water seemed to have wakened me up. I pulled the two campers' heads out of the water. One of them was Damien.

I pressed my palms against his chest and felt sea water in his lungs. I knew that if it didn't leave their systems now, they wouldn't make it. After a few seconds of maneuvering, I somehow got one hand on Damien's mouth.

The salt water's presence made my fingertips tingle. I willed it to come out. It sprouted out of his mouth like a mini geyser from his internal pressure.

Damien breathed in sharply but his eyes remained closed. Quickly, I turned to the second camper, who I didn't know, and did the same thing.

Once I could no longer feel water in his lungs, I let my feet drift to the surface. I'd seen lifeguards on TV do this. They would swim on their backs, with the person on their torso, facing the sky. Unfortunately, I had two people with me. After a little maneuvering, I managed to place both my arms under each of their necks and grabbed their shoulder with my hands. I put my feet under one of their ankles so they wouldn't roll over and willed the currents to push me back towards shore.

I didn't feel any muscles strain, I felt perfectly fine the whole way although it seemed to take an eternity to reach the shore. Finally, I felt sand rubbing against my shoulders and let my feet drift down until they hit the bottom. People started to grab the two campers and drag them onto the beach.

I rolled over and stood up. A group of half-bloods crowded around Damien and the other camper. Farther away, the two pegasi stood, beating the sand nervously with their hooves.

It was only when my whole body left the sea that I realized how tired I was. My shoulders and arms hurt as if I'd done too many push-ups but kept pushing myself. My abdomen hurt so much it was a pain to walk and my quadriceps felt as if they were on fire. I collapsed in the sand and breathed in the salty air, hoping it would bring me strength like water did. It didn't.

"Harry," said a calm voice. Zoe crouched down next to me and let her knees rest in the sand.

"I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head. "I didn't get to them on time."

"They're still alive," Zoe said. "If you hadn't rescued them, they would've drowned. It's a wonder you were there when they fell."

"Yeah," I muttered, silently chiding myself for not getting to them before they hit the water.

"You know we can cure almost any mortal injury with ambrosia, right?" she asked. "They'll be fine in a matter of days, maybe hours."

"I hope so… I'm sorry." I looked down at the bright sand and picked up a handful. Zoe patted my shoulder. I didn't expect the gesture and I jumped.

"You still saved them from drowning," Zoe offered. I nodded, not convinced.

Damien and the other camper, his name was Bill, were carried to the Big House. I checked on them an hour later with Zoe. Spending so much time with her, I'd grown used to her presence and it felt weird when she wasn't around. Damien and Bill were in the infirmary part of the Big House. Bill was sleeping but Damien seemed wide awake.

"Harry," he said, seeing me coming in. He sat quickly sat up. Zoe sank into a chair next to his bed and I stood next to her.

When I'd gotten him to the beach, he had been covered in bruises and his breath sounded like there was something stuck in his throat. Now, he seemed to be as good as new. Albeit for the fading bruises around his jaw.

"Thank you," he said.

"It was the least I could do," I said, nodding. "I hope you're feeling alright."

"I'm fine," Damien said and he groaned a little as he shifted his position. "When I was underwater, I had a dream." The room was silent as we waited for him to continue. He told us about the giant and the three demigods in the cave.

"You mean Hyppolytos, right?" Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"Yes!" Damien snapped his fingers. "That's the name!"

"What about the three demigods?" I asked, concerned.

"You said the girl speaking had long hair?" Zoe asked. Damien nodded. "And there was a tall one and another small one."

"The one who spoke was the smallest," clarified Damien. "He said they were walking around a city cluelessly."

"Yes." Zoe nodded, thinking. "It think I know who they are."

"Who?" I asked, my stomach jumped inside me.

"Ben. He went on a quest with two girls from camp. He's a son of Apollo. They had to retrieve a golden apple," explained Zoe.

"You mean the apples that make you immortal?" asked Damien. I was surprised he knew about greek mythology, seeing as he spent most of his days locked up in his workshop.

"Yeah, they're protected by a dragon. There's a good chance you'll die, since the only person who ever stole an apple was Hercules," explained Zoe.

"Thanks for the history lesson," muttered Damien.

Zoe ignored him. "We've got to find them before Hyppolytos can use them."

"Do we have any idea what he's going to use them for?" I asked. I pulled out my keychain and spun the ring around my index finger. I'd gotten the habit of doing this when I got nervous or bored. Damien watched it spin for a few seconds.

"No idea," he muttered, looking away. I put my keychain back in my pocket.

"I know the golden apples are near San Francisco," Zoe said, frowning. "So they must be there."

"So what are we waiting for?" I demanded. "Why don't we go right now?"

They both looked at me as if I'd done something wierd.

"Only experienced demigods can go, there's no 'we.'" Zoe breathed in and nervously fingered her bead necklace, a habit I'd recently noticed.

"But Damien's the one who had the dream, and you know where they could be," I argued.

"You're right about Damien," agreed Zoe, "but everyone knows where they are if they think about it." My hope seemed to vanish even though I still wanted to help the demigods.

And then Zoe's eyes grew wide. "Harry," she gasped. "You're the one who's supposed to lead this quest."

"What?" I was confused. "Why me? Damien was the one who got the dream."

Zoe shook her head. "No, it's supposed to be you." She glanced at Damien. "Sorry, Damien."

He waved it off. "No probs. I'm not the leader type."

"Ok, so what am I supposed to do?" I asked.

"You've got to ask for a prophecy." Zoe glanced out the window. "You need to go see Rachel Dare. The problem is, she doesn't give out prophecies like free samples."

"Ok," I sighed. "So what am I supposed to do?"

Zoe shrugged. "Just go see her. If she gives you a prophecy, then great, if she doesn't, then I guess it's someone else's job to go rescue Ben." There was something in her eyes whenever she said his name.

"Where can I find her?" I asked.

"Find who?" We all jumped at the same time. Behind me was a woman in her early twenties looking down at us, grinning. "Man, I love scaring kids your age." She laughed but quickly stopped when she saw that no one was joining her. "Anyway, I heard you guys needed something."

"We do," we said in unison. Rachel Dare chuckled. She looked like a pretty cheerful person in general.

"I'm guessing a prophecy," Rachel Dare said. "That's all the campers ask me for. They don't seem to realize that I'm an oracle. Prophecies aren't given out like free samples." Damien and I glanced at Zoe. "Anyway, I guess it's not for today, guys." At that moment, her body's muscles tensed and she straightened like a piece of wood. Her stiff feet seemed to turn towards me. Her mouth opened and she began to glow green. Her eyes rolled back in her head until her sockets were pure white. Green smoke coiled out of her mouth and gathered around her face, casting eerie shadows. A shill went down my spine. A deep voice spoke, neither feminine or masculine:

 _Three shall track_

 _Sea to be cursed_

 _Stealer or Stolen trapped_

 _By the Solstice_

 _Old man's comeback_

 _Forever dented_

The room was silent. Rachel Dare went limp and Zoe and I quickly rushed over to grab her before she fell. She blinked, her iris appearing again.

"Prophecy?" She gave a little sigh, as if it happened all the time and she was tired of it. "Did it make any sense?"

"None at all," muttered Damien. Rachel Dare recovered and stood upright. Chiron came into the room.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, his hooves stepping on the wooden floor was too loud for the room. He glanced at Rachel Dare and he frowned, worried. "Was there a prophecy?"

"Yep," Rachel dare said, nodding vigorously. "No idea what it said but by their expressions, it doesn't sound good."

"It's not good at all," Zoe said.

"It's sounds pretty depressing too," Damien added. "I mean who wants to be trapped or cursed?"

"Who was it for?" asked Chiron. He looked over the three of us. Zoe stepped forward and everyone expected her to say it was for her.

"Harry," she said. She pointed discreetly to me. "It's for him." Chiron turned to me.

"When the Oracle spoke," he said, "did Rachel turn to you?" I nodded. There was no doubting it. When she had been speaking, she was turned to the three of us, in a general direction. But when she turned stiff, she had been clearly turned towards me.

"Can you repeat the prophecy?" He sounded gentle, as if what had happened would scar me if I ever thought about it again. I repeated it.

Chiron frowned. "Obviously, three will go. One is to be trapped and one to be cursed." He glanced at me and Zoe. _Sea to be cursed_. That meant me. I was supposed to be cursed. And Zoe was supposed to be trapped. No wonder it was a depressing prophecy.

"I guess you are the leader of this quest, then," Chiron said. "Who are you going to bring with you?" I turned to Zoe.

"Obviously," I began, "Zoe." I turned to Damien and remembered the dream he'd had. He was the one who had alerted us about the kidnapping. If anything, he deserved to come too even if the prophecy didn't seem to mention him."And Damien"

Chiron nodded. "A good choice. I don't recommend bringing anyone else. Three is the best number for a quest and you shouldn't try bringing anyone else. When are you leaving?"

"The prophecy hinted at the summer solstice," Zoe recalled.

"That's in four days," Damien said, shaking his head. "How are we supposed to cross the continent and rescue them in four days?"

Chiron frowned and he became worried. "Rescue who and where?" Damien quickly told him his dream. Chiron, who was looked pretty good for a two thousand year old guy, looked so worried that he seemed to take on the appearance of a hundred year old dude.

"That's not good," he muttered. "You guys should leave now… Like, right now. Damien get out of bed, you're good enough." Damien hesitated. Chiron slapped his face. "Right," he muttered, "You're only wearing an underwear."

* * *

Author's Note

Next chapter will be posted in two or three days. Keep reading for the first part of the trio's quest.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	7. Chapter 7

VII

Zoe

I hated packing. Mostly because it reminded me of my mother. I didn't exactly remember when I left, or what it felt like. All I know is the date and who took me.

Alvin Bertram the satyr came to find me on January 4 at my mother's home in Chicago.

The possibility of being able to visit my mother in Chicago crept up in my mind. I shook my head. Harry and Damien wouldn't go out of their way just so I could see my mother. Besides, we had very little time to rescue Ben. And the other two girls.

Every time I thought of Ben, I didn't really know what to feel. Resentment? Or something else that I'd notice creep into my feelings every time I saw him before he left?

The cabin door swung open and I glanced back. My right arm, I guess you would call it, stood in the doorway. Her name was Sophia. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was a bit on the pudgy side of the spectrum, even though she spent a lot of time in the arena. Her acne was growing worse over the years. She was only a year older than me, but puberty had hit her full on. She was taller than most girls.

She smiled. "Hey, I heard the good news." She knew how much I wanted to get out of Camp Half-Blood, even though it was the safest place for demigods. "And the bad news." Her smile faded. News seemed to spread like wildfire around here.

"Yeah," I muttered. I wondered if she knew about my feelings for Ben. But I didn't know yet what I actually felt for him.

"You're going to do great. You do know that none of our siblings have gone on a quest since, you know, Luke," she said, growing more quiet as she went on. I nodded. I remembered Hermes' words all too well, about how I would prove to the rest of the camp that my siblings weren't just good at stealing things and being disloyal.

"I'll try my best." My father's words rung in my ears. I was supposed to go for the final move. I was supposed to finish the prophecy. "I won't let you down." That last part was more for Hermes than his kids, but Sophia nodded vigorously.

"You've been here for nine years," she said firmly. "You're our best chance at you know…"

"Putting us back on track." I nodded. I wouldn't disappoint Hermes. I knew it.

Harry and Damien appeared behind Sophia. "You ready?" asked Harry and Sophia jumped. She turned around and I thought I saw her smile. Harry was fidgeting with his keychain again. He looked nervous.

I zipped up my bag and walked passed Sophia. I turned to her.

"You guys go ahead," I said to Harry and Damien. They both began walking towards Half-Blood Hill. I turned to Sophia. "If you know, I don't make it back, you'll be the counselor. Lead the Hermes cabin to victory in Capture the Flag. I know you can do it." Sophia smiled sadly. We hugged. "I'll see you." I turned around and followed Harry and Damien.

We reached Half-Blood Hill, where a rather large group of people were waiting. They shouted encouragement and bid us good byes. As I made my final farewells to my siblings, Damien did the same to his own cabin. Harry was the only one who didn't have any siblings but Chiron didn't leave him alone. He pulled him aside to talk. I saw Harry reach into his pocket and pull out his keychain. Chiron nodded and Harry put the keychain back in its place.

Argus, the hundred eyed man, as we Hermes kids call him, drove us to the nearest train station in a white minivan. We got on the train and made ourselves small.

"Well, this is it," Damien sighed.

"Do you miss camp?" I asked.

"Well, yeah why?" he asked, frowning. I shrugged. I watched the fields and houses go by and I couldn't remember when was the last I'd left Camp Half-Blood.

I noticed people kept glancing at us. Probably because we were three pre-teens riding the train like adults. While Harry and Damien slept, I watched the countryside. My heart skipped a beat every time I saw a fast food place. I knew what they were but I don't think I'd ever tried any.

* * *

We got off at Penn Station and took a bus to New Jersey.

"There haven't been any monster attacks yet," I noted as we left the bus.

"Are there supposed to be any?" asked Damien, raising an eyebrow. His hand moved towards his back, where he had a strange leather sheath between his back and bag. It was shaped like an L. I didn't ask what it was.

"Three kids of the Olympians traveling in a crowded city? Definitely attracts attention." I nodded to myself. Harry suddenly seemed on high alert, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured all over him. He reached into his pocket and wrapped his hand around his keychain.

"I feel someone watching us," he said, stopping in the middle of the street. He glanced around, but the block was deserted. It was nearly ten but the sun was not quite set yet.

"We should get a room somewhere," I said, looking around too. I took out a map book from my bag and started flipping through it.

"Don't you need a yellow page book to find a hotel?" frowned Harry.

"Oh." I shut the book and put it back in my bag. I seriously needed to learn about life outside of Camp Half-Blood.

We couldn't use our phones since it was basically a flare for any nearby monsters. Besides, we didn't have any. We looked around the town, which was pretty small, and finally came across an old motel with a flickering sign out front.

"The Sleep Motel," read Damien. "Sounds nice, I could get some sleep." I glanced at him and noticed all his bruises were gone. The ambrosia and nectar had worked like magic on him. Except for deep bags under his eyes, he looked fine.

"Let's go," Harry said, leading the way. He didn't seem any more comfortable being the leader of a quest, but he seemed to assume his role anyways. We stepped into the lobby, which was just a tiny room.

To our left was a counter covered in papers. Behind the counter in a corner was an old television, playing a Matrix movie. In front of the TV was a couch where a middle-aged man was lying down, his eyes half-closed.

Harry ranged the bell nervously and the man jerked awake, gasping. I had to gasp too, when I saw him stand up.

He was thin and had deep bags under his eyes, deeper than Damien's, as if he hadn't slept in days. He moved slowly, as if every move took superhuman strength. He was wearing pyjamas, which was strange for someone at work. Most interesting of all were the two small wings sprouting out of his temples. They flapped slowly and then folded against the sides of his head. A small white feather fell onto his shoulder. He smiled sleepily at us.

"Two rooms for one night?" he asked in a dull monotone voice, slowly opening up a large book. He took a pencil, which he dropped. Slowly, he bent down and picked it up. He glanced at me and then to Harry and Damien.

"Yeah," Harry said, moving to get money from his bag.

"That'll be five drachmas, but you can pay in cash, if you want." Each word seemed to take an eternity for him to utter. I wanted to tell him to hurry. And then I read his name tag. _Hypnos_.

The god of sleep.

That would explain the wings sprouting out of his temples. And his slowness.

Harry paid him. We started to leave when Hypnos slowly coughed. We turned around.

"The dreams are included in the price," he said, lifting his finger at us, moving in slow motion. "Have a good sleep." That part wasn't monotone at all. As if he was happy we didn't know something that he did. I suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

We reached our rooms. I lied down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. It felt strange sleeping alone. I didn't remember the last time I'd slept without someone else in the room.

Strangely, I didn't care. My eyes were already closing. A part of me wanted to take a shower. The sleepy part wanted to sleep. Slowly, almost as slow as Hypnos, I pushed myself fully onto the bed and curled up, not bothering to take off my coat or go under the covers.

My eyes closed and I felt myself slip away.

* * *

I was in a cave. A single torch lit up the rough walls. In front of me were three figures, wrists and ankles attached to hand cuffs. They were hung in the air, all their weight on their wrists. I knew that this was the cave Damien had described, with the single torch and the three figures in front of me.

The tall one in the middle moved a bit. Their head lifted and they looked around. I could barely make out their face, but I knew those bright green eyes and golden hair and pointy nose that I was so familiar with.

Ben groaned and shifted his position. My stomach somersaulted. He glanced to the girl on his left - so my right - but she still didn't seem to move. He looked at the other girl, the one who had spoken when Damien was here, but she seemed to be asleep too.

"Ah, so the leader is finally awake," said someone behind me. Hippolytos appeared, exactly as Damien had described him.

"Who are you?" asked Ben, weakly. He shifted the position of his head and I was finally able to see his face. I hadn't seen his face in two weeks, yet it was thinner than before, his cheeks hollow and his eyes sunken. Dried blood covered the left side of his head and face.

I suddenly wanted to know who did this to him. I felt like screaming and crying at the same time. Ben's beautiful face looked ruin and he was so weak. He could barely speak.

"Ah, but you're not very strong are you?" Hyppolytos said. "Maybe we could just use the two girls. They'll do fine."

"What do you want?" croaked Ben weakly. I was going to cry, I knew it.

"I want your service," said Hyppolytos. "But as I said, I think we'll be quite fine without you."

"What do you want?" asked Ben again, more firmly this time, almost agressively. He seemed to be gaining energy. "What services?"

"I might as well tell you," sighed Hyppolytos, as if the pressure was too much from Ben. "Your two friends are going to hold up the sky." Ben blinked.

"What do you mean?" he asked suddenly confused.

"Remember that Titan, Atlas?" asked Hyppolytos, as if talking to a five year old. Ben nodded like a student to a teacher would. "He was punished by the gods because he opposed them. Well, the punishment was to have him hold up the world. Or the sky, whatever you want."

"And then what will he do?" asked Ben.

"He's not going to help you hold up the sky is he?" Hyppolytos asked sarcastically.

Ben shook his head. He was in really bad shape. "Then, he's going to let you guys hold it up, while he can be free!" Hyppolytos clapped his hands as if he'd just watched an extraordinary performance from a magician.

Ben was quiet for a moment. And then he looked directly at me. I don't think he could see me, but somehow, I knew he could feel my presence. His mouth moved.

Hyppolytos frowned and leaned in, cupping his hand around his ear. "Huh?"

"I said," Ben began loudly. "I'll give you time."

Hypolytos seemed genuinely confused. "Give me time? For what?" Ben shook his head and smiled.

"Not you!" he cried. He took a deep breath. A scream erupted out of his mouth, so suddenly that it made everyone in the cave jump, even me. My eardrums seemed to vibrate inside my ears. His body became pure light and it flooded the whole cave. It was so bright I had to close my eyes, as if someone was shining a lamp directly into my eyes.

There was another scream that seemed to rip through me like an invisible wave. The ground shook under my feet. It was Hyppolytos.

* * *

My eyes shot open. I gasped. I held my breath, counting to ten and looking at the ceiling. I didn't even know what had happened, but each time I blinked, I saw spots in front of me, the way you see spots after there was a camera flash. Except the spots covered my whole vision.

I rolled off my bed, suddenly wide awake and washed my face in the bathroom. I checked the time and my heart skipped a beat. It was three in the afternoon. I'd slept for fifteen hours. How was that possible? I hadn't done much more than travel yesterday.

I grabbed my bag and left the room. I hurried to Harry and Damien's room and knocked on their door. No response.

I checked out the window but the shades were closed. I knocked loudly but the room was silent.

"Harry!" I shouted. "Damien! Wake up, we have to leave!" My voice shook as my throat twisted and I was suddenly desperate.

"Leave where?" asked a sleepy voice behind me. I turned around to find Hypnos standing a few feet away.

"Why are they not waking up?" I asked, desperate. "What did you do?"

"Well, you wanted two rooms to sleep in," Hypnos said, as if that wasn't obvious enough.

"But why aren't they waking up!" I cried, pointing at the door.

"This place is absolutely deserted, I like company sometimes, especially sleeping people," Hypnos shrugged.

"Look, I don't have all day," I said. "We need to get somewhere. People are about to die if you don't wake them up." I was getting mad now.

"All right," sighed Hypnos. He waved at the doorknob and it turned by itself. "I think you know a way to wake them up."

"Wait, what do you-" Hypnos vanished. I turned to the open door and sighed. I tried to turn on the lights, but they wouldn't work, even though they were plugged in. I checked the light bulbs, but they seemed fine.

Harry and Damien were sleeping on the beds, they hadn't bothered to change into their pyjamas.

"Harry," I said out loud, and my voice sounded like an explosion in this silent room. They were breathing deeply. "Wake up, we have to go." I went over to Damien, but he didn't seem ready to wake up. I shook his shoulder and slapped his face a few times, but nothing bothered him.

I looked at the both of them and wondered what they were dreaming about. How was I supposed to wake them up? Hypnos said I knew how to, but my mind was as blank as a sheet of paper.

I remembered my dream and how Ben had managed to wake me up from this deep sleep with the light. Maybe that was how I was supposed to wake them up. But the thing was, I couldn't make light, I wasn't a child of Apollo.

My stomach jumped.

But my dad was the god of tricks. If I could trick the light to come into the room, maybe I could wake them up.

"A mirror," I muttered. "I need a mirror." I went into the bathroom, where a large mirror was hanging over the sink. It was stuck to the wall with glue, or something similar. Maybe Damien would be able to tell, but I didn't care right now.

I worked my fingernails under the mirror and pulled on it. There was the sound of something breaking behind it. I tugged and it came off with a wave of shrapnel.

I hurried back into the room and set up the mirror so the light from the outside came into the room, focusing on the opposite wall. The problem was, everytime I tried to lower it onto Damien's eyes, the light would disappear.

I needed another mirror.

I looked around the room, but I was already using the only mirror around. And then I remembered my room.

I hurried back outside and turned the doorknob to my room. It was locked. I tried to turn it, in doubt, again, but it wouldn't open.

I could sense the locking mechanism under my fingers. I remembered an old myth that some children of Hermes could pick locks with their minds. Sophia had told me one child every hundred or so years was born with that ability.

I crossed my fingers and hoped Hermes had given me that. I closed my eyes and the lock appeared in my mind. My fingers twitched, as if they were lifting the pins. There was a click and the doorknob turned all the way.

I let the door swing open, not believing it. How had I never tried that out before?

I shook my head. The more time I spent reflecting on my abilities, the less time we had of reaching Ben.

I stepped into the room and quickly took off the mirror in the bathroom. I hurried back into Harry and Damien's room and set to work.

It took me ten minutes to adjust the angle of both mirrors, but I finally managed to shine the light onto Damien's eyes. I held my position for nearly three minutes. My arms were starting to ache and I was beginning to think that this wasn't the way, when Damien moved his head to the side, groaning.

"Damien!" I cried. I tossed the mirror aside and shook his shoulder. He raised his hand over his eyes.

"Zoe?" He muttered, half asleep. "What are you doing?"

"Damien, you've got to wake up!" I shouted, grabbing both his shoulders and shaking him until his head bobbed back and forth. I let go of him. He rubbed his eyes.

"What's going on?" he croaked.

"We overslept. We need to leave now," I urged. I led him to the bathroom and told him to get ready. I waited outside the door until I heard the water running.

I adjusted both mirrors so that the light shone into Harry's eyes and waited until he woke up. Finally, he groaned and rolled off the bed.

"Zoe? What are doing here?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"We need to go, pack your bag," I said, even though they hadn't bothered unpacking the day before. Damien left the bathroom.

"Hey, where's the mirror?" he asked, pointing to the bathroom door.

"Long story," I said, pushing them out of the motel room. "We need to get a bus to… Well, I don't really know."

"Let's see," said Harry, suddenly wide awake. "We're in New Jersey. Maybe we can catch a train to like, Saint Louis or something."

"Or Chicago," I suggested without even thinking about it.

"Why Chicago?" asked Damien, frowning. "That's totally out of our way." I shrugged and hopped they forget about what I said.

"We're never going to get there in time, anyways," said Damien, shrugging. "We only have five days left. There's no way we can reach San Francisco without a plane."

Harry suddenly went pale. We were walking down a road, a car passed us and I had the feeling that the driver had glanced at us strangely. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I hate planes," he said. "Let's just try to avoid air travel as much as possible."

"Ok, well we can scratch that off the list," muttered Damien, discouraged. We walked in silence for several hundred feet.

"Ok," I said firmly. "We can't take a bus, it takes too long. We can't take a plane, Harry wouldn't be able to handle it. We can't take a car, if we get caught, we'll be sent back to Camp Half-Blood by the police. All we have left is the train, which is pretty slow from what I've heard."

"Oh, I don't know about the car," Damien grinned. We glanced at him. "Bill told me any kid from Hephaestus can drive any vehicle, including jets and stuff. I think a car can be pretty easy."

"Ok," sighed Harry. "But where do we get a car?"

"At a garage, duh," Damien said, as the answer had been right in front of us.

"We can't steal though," Harry said, worried. "I don't want to get in trouble."

"Would you rather get in trouble and rescue three people, or not get in trouble and leave three people to die?" asked Damien, suddenly angry. Harry seemed surprised by Damien's sudden outburst.

"I guess you're right," he sighed. "Where's the nearest garage?"

* * *

Author's Note

Next chapter will be posted in two or three days. Keep reading to find out what the trio's next obstacle will be.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	8. Chapter 8

VIII

Damien

After sleeping fifteen hours, I had the overwhelming urge to make something. And my fingers beat restlessly along my side. I was on full alert, as if I'd just chugged a gallon of coffee. Especially after the dream I'd had. With the guy named Ben and the two other girls who had been with him. Hyppolytos had talked to him and then the dream had faded. And then, I could hear a constant screaming ringing in my ears and someone shouting _I'm blind! I'm blind!_

I was glad Zoe had woken me up. I couldn't bear to hear those cries of misery anymore. It had really shaken me.

And now, I was hiding in a ditch, looking at a garage. Zoe and Harry were on each side.

"All right," muttered Harry. "What's our plan?" I could feel a strong aura coming from the garage.

"I have a feeling I should go in there," I said.

"Me too," Zoe said. We both looked at her, surprised. "My dad's the god of stealing. I think you should have a thief with you if you were to steal a car."

I honestly didn't like children of Hermes much, especially after a chubby girl tried to steal one of my screwdrivers during Arts and Crafts at Camp. With their mischievous grins and all that, their fingers always twitching.

"What about me?" asked Harry. I knew he was supposed to be the leader of this quest, but so far, he hadn't needed to do much to help us. With Zoe being the one who had woken us up and me about to drive across the country, he could almost rest on his laurels.

"You can stay here," I suggested. "Watch out for monsters." Harry looked disappointed.

"Fine," he sighed sadly. I felt kinda bad for the guy, but at the same time, I wanted to help the quest as much as I could. Harry took out that weird keychain of his and it turned to a leaf-shaped sword. A xiphos.

I turned to Zoe. "Let's go." I jumped out of the ditch and ran for the garage hiding behind a massive dumpster. Zoe followed me and crouched behind a car a few feet away.

 _Wait for me_ , she mouthed in my direction. She hurried inside. I waited and glanced at where Harry was hiding. I couldn't see him. Zoe appeared. I jumped seeing her standing a few feet away.

I hated the way Hermes kids always seemed to be there without you even noticing, moving around like shadows.

"Come on," she whispered. She pulled out a short sword from her belt. I could feel the Celestial bronze blade from here. I blinked, surprised I could feel it. And I felt a massive amount of it inside the garage.

"Wait," I whispered back, lifting a hand. She frowned, slightly annoyed.

"What?" she hissed. She glanced at the inside of the garage. I was pretty sure that mortals couldn't use Celestial bronze in their machines.

"There aren't any mortals in there," I explained. I could suddenly feel something dangerous lurking around. Zoe seemed to sense that too. A machine turned on. The distinct sound of a power saw.

"Then what is?" she asked, coming towards me. I shrugged. I had no idea, but it wasn't something friendly.

"I don't know," I said. "But we better hurry." She nodded reluctantly and I followed her inside, where she led me behind a table covered in motor parts.

"What's our plan?" she whispered.

I shrugged. "Feel any traps around here?" She looked at the ground, frowning. Then, she shook her head. I nodded and slid under the table crawling until I reached the other side. Standing before me were two Cyclopes. They were both wearing loincloths and working on a car.

"Ned, pass me the power saw," grunted the one closest to us. The other, the one working with the power saw, looked up and grunted too.

He turned it off. "You know I've got to fix this, don't you?" He turned it back on and continued doing whatever he was doing.

"How are we supposed to get a car?" whispered Zoe, who had crawled next to me. I jumped.

"I don't know," I whispered. The car the Cyclopes were working on seemed to be the only car in the garage, besides a car skeleton a dozen feet to my right. The first Cyclops pushed a button and the whole car was lifted off the ground by four metal poles. I could feel machinery working under me.

"Hey!" shouted the Cyclops with the power saw. He didn't bother turning it off before he spoke again. "What do you think you're doing! I'm busy on this side right now!"

"Do you think I care!" shouted the first Cyclops. "I need to get my side done too!"

"They don't seem to get along very well," said Zoe, a little too loud. Both Cyclopes stopped arguing and turned around toward us. "Oh, great." The first Cyclops lunged at our table and flipped it over.

"Aha!" he shouted in triumph. "I knew I smelled demigods around here!" He grabbed Zoe and was reaching for me in his large hands, when I rolled over and jumped up. I ran for the other side of the garage and hid behind the car skeleton.

The second Cyclops, whose name was Ned, rushed after me, holding up his power saw. I jumped into the car before he could cut me in half.

I placed my hands on the board and felt an engine inside the car. I quickly moved to the driver's seat.

"Please work," I muttered, placing my hand on the keyhole thing. It turned but the engine didn't roar to life. "Forget it," I sighed and jumped out of the car. Ned chased after me.

"You can't get away, demigod!" he shouted. I turned around and thrust my hands towards him. A jet of fire erupted out of my palms and hit him right in the chest. "Don't try to burn me. You should've known I'm immune to fire!" I continued running and with a superhuman jump, I landed on top of the car they'd been working on, ten feet off the ground.

"Come and get me, Chainsaw Sally!" I shouted at Ned.

He yelled, "I'm not a girl! And this isn't a chainsaw!" He paused momentarily. I willed the car to turn on. To my greatest surprise, it did. I leaned forward and the car lurched towards Ned, who was standing right below me. The car fell off the platform and landed right on Ned's head.

The Cyclops disintegrated on impact. The car crashed into the ground and I let myself fall next to it. I made sure I steered clear of the power saw, which was a family size tool. I looked around.

"Zoe?" I called. The garage was silent. I remembered how the first Cyclops had grabbed her and then she had disappeared with him. "Where are you?"

"Damien!" I heard her shout. I turn around and saw a small door hidden behind boxes and a massive circular saw.

"Holy Hephaestus! These guys really like saws," I muttered. "Zoe, I'm coming!" I rushed to the door and flung it open. I found myself in a completely empty room save for a single light bulb hanging in the very middle, casting a yellow circle of light on the concrete floor below. "Zoe! This isn't funny!" I looked around and stepped forward, a thick carpet of dust muting my footstep. The room was cold and the smell of mold hung in the air, like a basement left closed for too long. I felt something move behind me and quickly ducked. A club soared over my head.

I turned around and reached behind my back. I pulled out an L shaped blade and threw it at the Cyclops. It flew around his head and cut the rope he was holding Zoe with. She fell to the ground and groaned in pain, her face scrunching up.

The boomerang flew back into my hand. "You would not believe how long I've waited to use this," I said to the Cyclops, holding up the boomerang and grinning. The Cyclops roared and rushed at me, raising his club.

I ducked and rolled just out of reach. "I spent hours fixing the blade's angle so it would be as aerodynamic as possible," I continued as if nothing had happened. I stood up and held up the boomerang to show the angle of the body itself. "The body was pretty easy, but finding the right temperature to burn it so that it would bend the most possible without melting… Well, you should at least appreciate my work."

"Do you think I care?" asked the Cyclops. He swung his club at my head, but I was faster. I threw the boomerang at him like a professional knife thrower and it planted itself in his chest. The Cyclops disintegrated and his massive club landed next to me. I grabbed my boomerang and hurried over to Zoe, who was tied by thick cables and closed by padlocks.

"Um, maybe I should find the key," I suggested. Zoe shook her head.

"No, it's alright," she said. I frowned. "I can open them with my mind… Wow, I never thought I'd ever say that."

"There are lots of things we think we would never say," I muttered. Zoe nodded in agreement. She stared at the padlock, as if she was very mad at it. After a few seconds, it clicked open. She moved to the second and it clicked open too. She was tired by the third one; it took nearly a minute to unlock it.

Her whole body relaxed as the cables loosened around her. "Give me a minute," she breathed. "Go get the car." I nodded and left her alone.

As I reached the main room, I remembered that I'd crashed our only way of getting to San Francisco. But standing next to the car was a man wearing a blue mechanic's outfit and examining the car.

"Um…" I didn't know what to do. If a mortal saw me walking alone around their garage, what would they think of me? I was about to turn around when the mechanic stood up and turned towards me. I had the urge to gasp and jump back at the man's hideous face. It was covered in bruns and soot and there was the mark of his goggles around his eyes. Massive muscles bulged under his clothes. Sweat dripped down the side of his face, leaving a clear trail in the soot. He was using a greasy cloth to wipe his calloused hands.

"Hello, Damien Alvares," said the man, smiling.

"How do you know my name?" I asked. I stepped back even though I knew that this was a good person. I glanced at his chest, but his name tag was covered by his thick beard.

"That doesn't matter right now," the man said, waving it off. "But I did like the way you used that boomerang of yours. You built it didn't you?" He pointed at something in my hand and I realized I was still holding the boomerang.

I held it up and examined it. "Yeah," I said. Something told me that I could say anything in front of this man and he wouldn't mind it. "My mom, she used to go with me in a large field behind our house and teach me how to throw boomerangs. I enjoyed all the math that came with it." The man nodded, as if approving.

"I don't know many people who like math, especially demigods, but I know you do. This is a good piece of work." He pointed at my boomerang again.

"Thank you." I smiled. It felt good, especially coming from a man like him.

"I have a feeling you can make more than a simple boomerang though," the man continued. "That is a pretty advanced piece of work, but by mortal standards. I know you can control the angle of the curve and how far you want it to go, but you can do more than that." I nodded. I decided to take his advice.

"I hear you need a ride," continued the man.

"Well," I sighed and pointed to the wrecked car. "I guess this was supposed to be it." The man glanced at the wreck and nodded, understanding.

"I think you deserve something good," he said. "After all, you got rid of these Cyclops. They've been here for weeks now. I didn't know how I should get rid of them until you came here." Something told me that the man knew how to get rid of Cyclops, but he had let them stay until I came along. The man snapped his fingers. The car disappeared and instead appeared a highly modern car, with an aerodynamic design and a powerful motor at the back, hidden behind a glass panel. "Easy to use and drive. Hides you from the mortal eyes. Faster than the Hennessey Venom GT. You'll get to San Francisco in a matter of days."

"How do you know -" The man waved the question away.

"It doesn't matter how I know where you're going, Damien," he said. "I just want you to get there." He stepped back and opened the door. "Have a good trip." He grinned and disappeared.

Zoe appeared next to me. "Who was that?"

I glanced at her and then back at the car. "My dad."

* * *

I slowly rolled out of the garage. Harry ran towards us and stopped when he saw the car. "Is that a Hennessey Venom?" he asked, pointing at the car. "Did you actually find that inside?"

I grinned proudly. "My new ride," I said. "Come in, my dad put three seats inside."

"Your _dad_?" asked Harry, confused. I shook my head.

"Long story," I said. Harry climbed in next to Zoe. He put his bag behind the seat and put on his seat belt.

"Please don't crash," Zoe said, worried. "This is a pretty dangerous car."

I laughed. "Dangerous is cool." I turned onto the road and slammed my foot down on the gas pedal. The car jumped forward and I yelled in excitement. Zoe clenched her teeth shut. I switched gears without thinking about it and we went even faster.

We arrived on the highway. We reached a speed of over 200 miles per hour. "Please don't tell me this car goes faster!" Zoe said, glancing at the dashboard.

"It does," I said, excitedly. I found the car easy to maneuver, dodging between the other mortal cars. I switched gears again and we reached 230, and then 270. "We're about to break a world record for the fastest car actually being sold!" I shouted. I urged the car to go even faster. In less than a minute, we were going at 300 miles per hour.

I didn't really have to think about driving the whole time. My hands just worked, moving between the cars, who seemed to be as slow as Hypnos was. I hadn't realized we were going north until we reached Chicago. Zoe tapped my shoulder and pointed at a blur. I had just enough time to read Chicago before it was gone.

I checked the time and realized I'd been driving for nearly three hours. I began to slow down until we ran into some traffic. The car came to a stop. It was silent except for the hum of the engine.

"Man, that was fast," Harry finally said. "I like this ride. Can we keep it?"

"What would we have done if we hadn't had this?" I wondered aloud.

"It would've taken us about twelve hours to get here," Zoe said.

Harry frowned. "How do you know?" Zoe was about to answer but I stopped her.

"Look," I cried, pointing to something outside. "A pizza place!" My stomach grumbled.

"When was the last time we ate?" asked Zoe, putting a hand on her own stomach. Harry counted on his fingers.

"I think it was, like, two days ago, or something. I remember, I had roast beef," said Harry. The thought of roast beef made my stomach grumble. I hadn't thought about food since leaving camp, the quest being the only thing that was always on my mind.

"Let's get some pizza," I said, leaving the highway. Zoe and I sat at a table while Harry ordered a pizza to go.

"Did you have any dream?" I asked. "Like, when we were at the motel?" Zoe nodded.

"There was Ben in it," she said. For some reason, every time she spoke of Ben and the two other girls, she never mentioned the girls' names.

"What are the girls' names?" I asked. Zoe sighed and something flashed in her eyes but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Ivy and Gemma," said Zoe. She began ripping a napkin to pieces. I tapped my fingers on the table, as I usually did. Harry sat next to me.

"They're preparing the pizza," he said cheerfully. He frowned. "What's wrong?"

Zoe told us her dream, with Ben becoming all laser and stuff. "What do you think happened after?" asked Harry.

"I think he made Hippolytus blind," I said. I'd spent most of the drive reflecting on my dream. "Someone was shouting that they were blind." I didn't add that I hated that voice.

"And Ben said that he was trying to give us time," added Zoe, suddenly happy. Again, no mention of Gemma or Ivy."Maybe a day, or a few hours. Hyppolytos has to recover from the light."

Zoe turned to Harry and asked, "What did you dream about, Harry?" Harry looked down at the keychain he was holding in his hand. He hesitated.

"Large pizza for three!" It was the college student behind the counter. Harry jumped up and hurried to get the food. Zoe and I glanced at each other.

"He's hiding something," Zoe said. Harry was back. He opened the cardboard box and the smell of fresh pizza wafted out. My mouth started to fill with saliva. I forgot about what Harry could be hiding and took a slice before I even had a plate.

Twenty minutes later, we left the pizzeria. It was around six in the afternoon. Since none of us felt like sleeping, we walked around Chicago. For once, Zoe didn't seem in a hurry to leave the city.

"I used to live here," she finally said. I glanced at Harry. He too noticed that it was the first time she had ever talked about her life before Camp Half-Blood. Neither of us knew if who should ask questions.

"So," Harry began. "Do you have any family here?" Zoe nodded.

"I'm not sure if my mom still lives here," she said. "I think my dad loved her because she loved to travel."

"Do you want to go see her?" I asked. Suddenly I understood why she'd wanted to come to Chicago so badly. I realized the question was useless.

"If we find out where she lives," Zoe said. "I could ask Alvin Bertram." I glanced at Harry.

"You mean Mr Bertram, like the satyr who saved us from our history teacher?" Harry asked, surprised.

"That guy." Zoe snapped her fingers. "He's the one who was sent by Hermes to take me to Camp Half-Blood." Wow. Someone had been sent to her by her dad to bring her to Camp Half-Blood. At least her dad had acknowledged her.

Hephaestus rarely appeared in front of his children. It was a wonder he had appeared in front of me. I wondered why Hermes had decided to take her away from her mother. And if he'd ever appeared in front of her.

"So, how are we going to contact him?" asked Harry.

Zoe took out a glass prism from her bag. "Ever heard of Iris-messaging?"

* * *

Author's Note

Half on one of the prophecy's lines will be completed but you need to pay close attention. By the way, did anyone catch that Matrix reference in chapter 6? One of the characters is named Morpheus and in Greek Mythology, Morpheus is the son of Hypnos. Neat, huh? But wait! There's more! In this chapter, Damien yells, "Come and get me, Chainsaw Sally!" Reference to a horror movie called Chainsaw Sally (duh!) and the power saw Ned the Cyclops was holding. Pretty cool, right? Next chapter will be posted in two or three days. Keep reading.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	9. Chapter 9

IX

Harry

After spending what seemed like an hour outside of a garage from where erupted noises of fighting and power saws turning on and off, I was itching to go out and help Zoe and Damien. When I saw Damien come out of the warehouse, driving the world's fastest car on the market, I figured I didn't really want to know what was in that garage.

Strangely, after getting a powerful car, Damien looked excited, but it was a different type of excitement. I couldn't tell what it was, but it was different.

Damien drove two hours before realizing he had led us to Chicago. He seemed calmer than when we had left the garage, as if driving a car had cooled him off. But as we entered the pizzeria, his nervous excitement came over him again.

Man, this Portuguese guy was weird. I was burning to find out what they had encountered. I was still a bit mad at him for not letting me participate, I mean, I was the leader, yet he was the one who told me that I shouldn't come.

We were sitting in an alley. Zoe pulled out the glass prism and a flashlight.

"Wow," Damien said. "You came prepared." Zoe nodded. She shone the flashlight onto the side of the prism and the light was broken down until a rainbow appeared on the other side.

She took one of those large golden coins and tossed it at the rainbow. It didn't continue its way to the other side. The rainbow shimmered and a man's face appeared.

Right in front of us was Mr Bertram's upper body. He had a thick goatee and curly brown hair from which appeared two small horns. His lips were covered in tomato sauce and a few spaghettis hung from his mouth. He nearly choked when he saw us shimmering in front of him.

I could hear sounds of laughing and talking in the background and realized he was eating dinner at Camp Half-Blood.

Mr Bertram quickly swallowed the rest of his spaghetti and wiped his mouth. "Um, hey guys, I didn't exactly expect you calling at this time."

"Yeah, sorry about that," I said. I felt like I should be the one talking first, since I was the leader.

"How's it been going?" he asked, scratching his head. Chiron appeared in the rainbow and he smiled at us.

"Oh, we've been great," I said. "Ran into Hypnos, and uh…"

"A few angry Cyclops," added Damien. So that's what was in the garage. "But we got a fast ride."

"Where are you guys?" asked Chiron. He seemed weary as if he hadn't slept well the last few nights.

"Somewhere in downtown Chicago," Zoe said.

"Do you have a problem?" asked Chiron, frowning. "I mean, I would've expected you guys to go south and -" He stopped, realizing something. His expression turned from worried to fatherly. "You want to see your mother don't you?"

Zoe nodded, slowly. "Yeah," she said quietly. "But I don't know where she lives."

Chiron seemed to hesitate. "If you think that this is the time to go see your mother…" Zoe's face turned angry.

"Chiron," she said harshly, making everyone jump. "I haven't seen her since I was three." Chiron nodded understandingly. He turned to Mr Bertram, who hadn't said much yet.

Mr Bertram seemed to know what to do and said, "She still lives in the same house as before. But she is married now. She has a husband and two kids." Zoe was quiet. She fingered her bead necklace.

Quietly, she asked,"Where does she live?"

* * *

We found the address Mr Bertram had given us. Damien had parked the car right in front of a brown townhouse. A few people passing by glanced at the car but no one seemed surprised. Most of the cars in this neighborhood were very nice. Teslas, and Porches and even a few Maseratis.

We climbed up the steps. Zoe stopped in front of the door and hesitated.

"You know," Damien started, as if changing his mind. "Maybe we should leave you alone. I mean, this is the first you're going to see her, in like…" He drifted off.

Zoe didn't respond for a few seconds. "Yeah," she eventually sighed. "I think you're right."

"We'll go drive around the neighborhood," I suggested. Zoe nodded. "We'll be back in a few hours." Damien and I quickly got back in the car. Zoe watched us leave.

"So, wanna go to a Starbucks or something?" asked Damien as Zoe disappeared from view.

"Sure," I said, shrugging. We came across a large house, with a Starbucks in it, the sign lit up at the front for advertising. The grounds around it were well kept and a bunch of old people walked along the paths that wound around the gardens and lawns.

"What is this place?" asked Damien, parking the car. We got out and entered the Starbucks.

"A retirement home?" I guessed. We bought coffees and sat down. I didn't think a coffee was good for Damien, since he was even more ADHD than I was.

"Why would they have a Starbucks inside a retirement home?" muttered Damien. He sipped some of his coffee. I shrugged.

We finished our coffees and walked around the grounds. An old lady came up to us after a few minutes.

"Oh, hello, young men," she said in a squeaky voice. She was about ninety years old and walked around with just a cane. "Oh, you look much like my sons, especially you." She pointed a gnarly, wrinkled finger at me. I smiled nervously.

"Here, I want you to meet someone," she continued, before I could say anything. She turned around and headed for the home. I glanced at Damien.

"What bad could it do?" he asked and we followed her into the home. Inside was a large room with some more old people playing card games or watching a football game.

"Patriots vs Falcons," said an old man to me. "I'm all for the Bears." He pointed at the TV.

"But the Bears aren't even playing," I pointed out.

"What?" he asked, loudly.

"Nevermind," I muttered and moved away. The old lady had reached a man sitting in a large comfortable chair.

"This is my friend," she said proudly. "Geras." The old man looked older than all the other people here. He was as thin as a stick, his face covered in wrinkles and just a few thin white hairs sprouting from his head. Dark spots covered his whole body. A wooden cane leaned against the side of his chair.

"This place doesn't smell very good,"muttered Damien. For the first time, I noticed the smell of something rotting. After a second, I realized it was coming from Geras himself.

"What did you say, young man?" asked Geras. "I may look old, but…" He began to doze off, but the old lady slapped his cheek. Geras jerked awake.

"But I can still hear pretty well," continued Geras as if nothing had happened. "Back in my day, The young men respected their elders."

"What told you I don't respect you?" asked Damien angrily. Geras pointed at him with a thin finger.

"Aha!" he cried. "That is just what I needed. You don't respect me!"

Damien blinked, confused, "I don't get it, I never said I didn't respect you and I never suggested that I didn't either." Geras looked angry, as if he wasn't getting what he wanted.

"Young men these days never respect my kind," Geras shook his head, disappointed. "You deserve worse than death, young man."

"Oh," Damien turned scared, but it wasn't real. "I'm so scared! What are you going to do?"

"Um, Damien," I whispered, jabbing my elbow into his ribs. "I don't think that's a good idea.'"

"There!" shouted Gears. All of those who could hear turned towards him in confusion. That was about a third of those sitting around us. The rest of the room didn't seem to mind. Geras pointed a scrawny finger at Damien in triumph. "Disrespect! Even Heracles helped me, and he was very nice to me."

"Well, I obviously don't look like Heracles," continued Damien angrily.

"So, you're saying that Heracles respects old men more than you," Geras said triumphantly.

Damien was confused now. "What?"

"Don't say that!" Geras said. His eyes began to water ad he quickly pressed his hands to his back. "Ah, my back. Old age is horrible. So much pain, always… What was I talking about? Oh, yes, you don't say 'what' to an elder! That's disrespectful!"

"But -" Damien started.

"And don't say but either. No buts and no whats. Say 'I don't understand what you are saying', or 'what do you mean'."

"But that starts with a what!" Damien argued. I couldn't help but slap my forehead.

"Argh!" Geras yelled angrily. "Maybe being old will teach you a lesson." He pointed at Damien. Suddenly, his face began to warp, as if I was watching him age in fast motion.

In a matter of second, his hair had turned gray-white, his skin was covered in wrinkles, and his teeth were yellowed and crooked. He hunched over and looked smaller than before. His knees shook from his own weight and his shins looked like twigs, ready to snap in half.

"I need to sit down," croaked Damien. I quickly grabbed an empty chair and let him sit. He sighed in relief and I noticed a few beads of sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

I turned to Geras. The words that left my mouth… I didn't think I would ever pronounce them. "How old did you make my friend?"

Geras shrugged. "Old enough so he can understand being old."

"Can't you turn him back?" I asked. Geras tapped his chin. His eyes began to droop. In a second, he was snoring.

The old lady slapped him again and he jerked awake. "Yes, right, I know what I was talking about. Wait, what were you saying again." He frowned at me.

Impatiently, I pointed at Damien. "Can't you turn him back?"

"Well," Geras started. "I can't since, I am the god of old age."

"So, what does that mean?" I asked, beginning to panic.

Geras nodded, as if remembering something. "Yes, I can't turn him back. Because, as you can see, I am the god of old age." As if that wasn't obvious enough. I did my best not to show my frustration.

"So what do I need to do?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't repeat the fact that he was the god of old age.

"You need to find the opposite of me," said Geras. I frowned and opened my mouth but his eyelids drooped again and he began to snore. The old lady was about to hit him when I stopped her.

"No," I said, holding up my hand. "I think I know what to do." I looked around. This place was obviously the complete opposite of what I was looking for. "Do you have a map?"

* * *

I hoped that none of the caretakers would notice that they had a new patient with them. I had a map of Chicago in my hand as I left the retirement home. The sun was starting to sink towards the horizon.

I opened the map and looked for a bar, or a night club. That's where I would find the youngest people in town. There was a nightclub a few streets away. I walked in that direction.

It was named the Young Club.

"Seems pretty promising," I muttered. There was a man at the entrance. For a second, I worried that I wouldn't be able to get in, but I spotted a group of college students standing in line nearby. I managed to slip in between them and the wall of the building.

"How many are you guys?" asked the man, who was wearing a dark suit and sunglasses, even though it was nearly dark out.

"Fifteen," said one of the older boys. The man hesitated, checked out the line behind them and nodded. I glanced behind me to find that there were just a few old people standing there.

I blended into the crowd of college students and entered the nightclub. Music was booming out of the speakers and it shook the whole floor. I found myself on a balcony overlooking a massive dancefloor. On my right was a spiraling staircase that led down to the main area. To my left, the balcony continued around the room and ended in a second spiraling staircase on the other side.

I followed the group of college students downstairs. A popular song came on and everyone seemed to rush towards the dancefloor with their partner or friends. I glanced at what was under the balcony. A bunch of tables, most of which were empty. Nearby was a bar where a barman served drinks.

I decided not to ask for any drinks even though no one seemed to notice me anyways. I spotted a man who looked strangely like Mr. D from Camp Half-Blood, dancing with a woman nearby.

I figured it must've been Mr. D himself, or a part of him. He held a cup of Coke in his hand, and I somehow heard him ask the woman if she liked partying. She laughed and nodded vigorously.

I caught a glimpse of a young woman sitting alone at one of the tables. She was maybe in her early twenties, holding a glass of… well, it didn't look like a normal alcohol. I figured it must've been nectar or something.

I made my way towards her. She was attractive, with her braids and golden leaves in it. Even though she wasn't wearing any mascara, a lot of people glanced at her, as if wanting to ask her to a dance. She wore a greek style sleeveless gown.

I sat down next to her. She glanced at me and smiled to reveal white teeth, not yet aged.

"Hello," she said. "Your name is Harry, right?" I nodded, not surprised she knew my name. I had the feeling that most gods knew how to do that. "You are very young and full of life. I like that."

"You must be Hebe," I said, not doubting it for one second. She nodded. "Is that Dionysus, over there?" I nodded at the man in the purple shirt and holding the cup of Coke. Hebe nodded again.

"Yes, he likes to party a lot," she said. "I often see him around here. He likes this club. Lots of young energy around here." She nodded to herself. I noticed that she didn't have a single wrinkle, just smooth skin, the way women like my mom had always wished for.

"Do you want something to drink?" she asked. "I've got Sprite, Coke, Fanta, all that young stuff." Ok, so maybe this goddess was a little obsessed with young things.

"Sprite," I said. A plastic cup appeared in front of me.

"Sadly, I can't offer you any of the older people drinks. You know, being young and everything," apologized Hebe. I nodded and sipped some of the Sprite. "Do you need anything? Every time people come up to me, they ask me to make them young again, to have wrinkleless skin and more hair."

"Yes, I do need some of that young magic thing," I said, setting down my cup.

"Oh," Hebe seemed surprised. "Well, you are quite young, but I guess I could fix that scar on your palm from when you were a baby and tried to open a window but cut yourself instead." She took a deep breath after that long sentence. "Or, I could fix that eyesight of yours, it's slowly getting worse, even though you might not have noticed it yet." She snapped her fingers and everything seemed clearer around me. I could see that sign across the room that said, _Out of Order_ on the bathroom door.

"Wow," I whispered, blinking. I glanced at my right palm and the scar was gone. "Actually, I wanted the youth for my friend, Damien."

"Oh," Hebe looked even happier than before. "How old is he?"

"Uh…" What was I supposed to say to that? "Well, he was about thirteen an hour ago. And now, he's, you know, pretty old."

"Huh," Hebe muttered, tapping her chin. "Well, I guess I could make him about thirteen again. When is he born?"

"Uh…" I frowned. I really had no idea. "Maybe, December, I guess."

"Huh, I see," Hebe nodded to herself. "I'd say right now, he's around one hundred."

I choked on my Sprite. "What?" The drink came out of my nose and that horrible sensation passed through me. I gagged.

"That's a big age difference," Hebe said. "He might have a few wrinkles here and there, but nothing very noticeable."

I nodded, still recovering from the explosion of Sprite inside my nose. "Yeah, that sounds good. Just do the best you can. As long as he can stand up." Hebe snapped her fingers.

"There, he should be getting younger, but it'll take a few hours," Hebe said. I sighed with relief.

"How can I ever repay you?" I muttered.

"Repay me?" Hebe asked, suddenly very interested. I immediately wished I'd kept my mouth closed. "Well, if you could help me find Geras, the god of old age, that would pay for your eyesight, your scar and your friend's youth." I couldn't believe it was that simple.

"I know exactly where he is," I said, grinning.

"Good," Hebe nodded and smiled mischievously, like a four year about to tell you he had painted the walls by himself and was very proud of it. She held out her hand for me to take. "I've got a few words to tell him about making people old too early."

"He deserves it," I said. I took Hebe's hand and a burst of adrenaline spread through my body. I suddenly wanted to jump on the table and scream with happiness and then run around Chicago at full speed.

"Where is he?" she asked, looking around, as if already searching for Geras.

"The retirement home a few streets away," I managed to say without bursting out laughing. Hebe smiled. Suddenly, the world went dark and cold and nothing seemed to exists around me.

I found myself in the retirement home, standing in front of Geras and Damien. Damien's face was less wrinkly and he looked more healthy now. His hair was regaining color.

I quickly let go of Hebe's hand before I could jump around the room like I was having a sugar rush. The adrenaline and excitement faded right away. Hebe went straight for Geras.

"So, Geras," she said angrily. "Youth isn't one to get angry easily, but you must know that my domain is very important for people's health!"

"Ha!" Geras said. "You disrespectful fool! Respect the elderly!" I decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to stay here any longer before a fight erupted between the two gods.

"Damien," I said, "I think we should go." Damien blinked tiredly.

"What?" he muttered. "But I'm so tired and my whole body hurts."

"I guess you learned your lesson," I said, grabbing him beneath both arms. I carried him most of the way. I think he was about ninety, now.

We left the retirement home and reached the car. Damien managed to open it and sat at the driver's seat.

"Are you sure you want to drive?" I asked, concerned. "You're pretty old."

"Can you drive?" snapped Damien, scowling. I sat down besides him and put on my seatbelt. Damien drove out of the parking lot. It was totally dark out. I checked the time on the stereo to find that it was eleven.

"I think Zoe should be good," I said, "Let's go back."

* * *

Author's Note

Ok, so I'm pretty sure everyone noticed that Super Bowl reference, especially after yesterday. If you didn't, then it's the one about the Patriots and Falcons. PLease leave a review it helps me a lot. Keep reading to find out how Zoe's mom will react to her daughter coming back. And the real reason why Hermes took Zoe away. Next chapter will be posted in three or four days.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	10. Chapter 10

X

Zoe

I watched as Damien and Harry drove down the street and disappeared around a corner.

I examined the facade of the building. It wasn't like I wanted to be an architect or anything, but I knew the building had been made in the 19th century. Delicate carvings of gorgons hung over the door. The door itself had been carved out of american oak and the knocker was a hawk's head holding a silver ring in its mouth.

I stared at the hawk, and hesitated. I didn't know it would be this hard to come back. I only had a few memories of this house, like the living room and the fireplace and this knocker, which felt like it had always been here.

I didn't really know how to describe my mother. I think she had blond hair, up to her shoulders and brown eyes. Just like me. She must've had a lot of money because this neighborhood was expensive. And she traveled a lot. And she wore expensive things like leather jackets and gloves. I think I remember her wearing golden earrings.

I wondered how my step-father would react. Did he even know I existed? Would he be mad? And what about his children that he had with my mother? What would they think? And how would they understand that my father was a Greek god? Not being exposed to many mortals during my lifetime, I had no idea how they would welcome me.

I took a deep breath. "Zoe," I whispered to myself. "Just do this and it'll all be over in a matter of hours?" And then, the worst thought of them all crossed my mind.

What if my mother didn't want me?

I was about to turn around when I heard laughing inside. And then a man called:

"Hey, Katherine, while you get me that bottle opener from the kitchen, sweetheart?" My stomach twisted on itself. Katherine was my mother's name. That man was my step-father. I heard a kid scream and then another one yell. All of a sudden, the whole house was awake.

There was shouting and fighting and talking and laughing. I wondered what it would've been like if I'd stayed with her. Would she have married this man?

I stepped to the side and glanced at the name on their mailbox. _The Melbourne Family_.

"Stop it, James!" came a shout from the inside.

A kid's voice responded, "Mommy! Claire's stealing my Legos!"

"No, I'm not!' said the girl named Claire.

I knew I had to knock now, or I would never do it. I raised my hand and let the knocker fall onto the metal plate beneath the hawk's head. I did it two more times. I suddenly realized there was a bell right next to the door and I cursed myself for not seeing it earlier.

The house had suddenly fallen silent. I counted to ten in my head, waiting for someone to come open for me. Finally, I heard steps coming towards the door.

It opened and standing in the doorway, was a tall man with dark curly hair and a clean shave. For a second, I thought Hermes was standing in front of me, the resemblance was so much.

Then, I noticed he had a scar on his nose and a few gray hair. His hands were hairier than Hermes' and he wasn't wearing winged shoes, just normal work shoes. He had a shirt opened to reveal a white tank top. He wore black work pants and it looked like he had just come back from a long day at the office.

"Um…" He looked confused. "Can I help you?" He talked as if he was talking to a three year old. Behind him, I saw a six year old girl with blonde hair and brown eyes and a three year old boy with curly black hair and blue eyes. A pile of mismatched Lego airplanes and cars were strewn around them.

"Does Katherine Warner live here?" I used my own last name, because I figured he would realize that I was more than just a simple kid.

"You mean Katherine Melbourne?" asked the man. "No, she doesn't live here." He began to close the door but I held out my hand.

"Don't treat me like a baby, Mr Melbourne, it says it on your mailbox," I said, pointing to the tag. Mr Melbourne opened the door, but not as wide as before. I saw him reach into his pocket and I knew he had a gun. "You're really going to pull a gun on a twelve-year-old?" Mr Melbourne stopped.

"Who are you?" he asked. Someone appeared behind him and my heart skipped a beat. The woman had blonde hair that came up to her shoulders and light brown eyes. She was tall, but not as tall as Mr Melbourne. Her jaw dropped open when she saw me.

"What are you doing here?" asked Katherine Melbourne.

"Wait, you two know each other?" asked Mr Melbourne, confused. He looked from me to Katherine and his jaw dropped open too. "Wait, don't tell me this is your -"

"Yes, it is," Katherine said, nodding. Anger began to boil inside of me.

"Congratulations, _Mom_ ," I said, slowly clapping my hands. "That's the first time you acknowledge me in what….?" I began counting on my fingers and then dropped my hands and looked her in the eye. "Nine years?" My mother clenched her jaw shut. She didn't look the same as I remembered her. Her face had aged, but she was still a beautiful woman. And I was mad at her.

"Zoe," she said, calmly. "Come inside." She pushed open the door wide open and Mr Melbourne reluctantly step aside.

"Wait," he said, "how do you know this is your daughter?" I glanced at my mother, not believing she'd married someone this stupid. I mean, the resemblance spoke for itself.

"Don't worry, I know my daughter when I see her," said my mother. I frowned, confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked, more confused than angry. "You haven't seen me in nearly a decade."

My mother shook her head, a small smile appearing. "No I haven't. You may look like me physically, but you have everything from your father."

"Wait, who's your father?" asked Mr Melbourne. Ok, now, I just found this guy annoying. I wasn't mad at him anymore.

"I don't think you'd understand," I said, in a slightly superior tone. I walked passed him and followed my mother into the kitchen. There was an island in the middle, topped by a piece of white marble and surrounded by light blue cabinetry. The two kids followed close behind us.

"Zoe," my mother said. She pointed to the two kids. "Meet Claire, your step-sister and James, your step-brother." I crouched down next to them. Having been raised by a bunch of older people meant that I'd never met a baby before. I hadn't been sure if I would like them.

I loved them.

"Looks like you took much better care for them than for me," I said angrily, getting back up. My mother suddenly looked sad. Mr Melbourne walked into the kitchen.

"David, will you get some food for Zoe, she looks hungry," said my mother, looking away from me. David Melbourne nodded and opened the fridge, moving slowly so it was obvious he was listening to our every word.

"So, I continued, "will you explain? Explain, like, everything?" My mother hesitated.

She sighed and began, "Let's start from the beginning...I was a college student wanting to travel the world. My senior year came and I wanted to see what was out there. So, in June, after accumulating as much money as I could, I decided to visit Australia. I went all alone, even though my parents disliked the idea very much. I asked a friend if she would come but she was majoring in biology and she had tons of things to work on. So I flew to Australia. I visited Sydney and all the other big cities. Then, I decided to go to the Outback. And so started my great adventure. Before leaving Australia, I decided that I wanted to see more places. So instead of coming back to Chicago, I went to New Zealand. Of course, my parents hated the idea of me not coming back to them every few months, so I called them everyday. I remember visiting many countries. India, China, Russia, South Africa, Morocco, Italy, Portugal, Finland, Canada, Argentina, Peru. A few more too.

"I met your father in Mexico, when I was visiting one of the Mayan temples. He asked me, 'Do you like to travel?' I said that I hadn't stopped since June. When I met him, it was nearly a year later, in May. I decided that I wanted to see my family again. But I'd grown close to Hermes."

David's head slammed against a fridge shelf, sending Tupperwares and yogurts falling to the floor. "Wait, did you just say Hermes?" he asked, rubbing his head and wincing. "Isn't that, like, a greek god or something?"

I shrugged. "I told you you wouldn't understand." My mother rolled her eyes.

She continued: "Anyways, Hermes told me that he loved to travel too and he didn't mind meeting my family. So we flew back to Chicago. Back then, I didn't know who he really was." She glanced at David, who gave her a questioning look and kept going, "But I knew he wasn't like anyone else. We'd been together for a few months now. My parents loved him. And then, I realized I was pregnant. With you. I told him so and he grew worried. As the months passed, he began to grow more agitated. He mumbled in his sleep, but I could only catch a few words at a time. Like, 'too powerful.' or 'must take them.' I ignored what he was saying. Then, you were born and I knew I couldn't travel anymore. Hermes grew sadder as he saw you grow up. And then, he told me who he was and he left.

"I hadn't be that mad my whole life. You were more powerful than any of his other children. Since he'd grown so close to me, there was a lot of… his blood in you. He said he'd given you too much power. Whatever that meant." I knew what he meant, but decided not to tell her. "He said that he'd never loved someone as much as me and he wanted to give me a gift. Something more than the child. He gave me money, but he knew that wasn't enough, so he made you powerful.

"Because you were so powerful, Hermes decided that you couldn't stay here in the mortal world any longer. He feared they would come. So he sent the satyr to pick you up. I haven't seen you since that day. I didn't know what to do after you left. I was so lost. I had so much money too, but I didn't use any. I lied to my parents, said that I'd given you up for adoption, that I was too young to have a child Then, I decided to turn my life around and I met David. You may have noticed how much he looks like Hermes. He reminded me of your father so much. So I married David and Claire was born. But I thought of you everyday. Hermes hadn't told me where he'd taken you, but he told me that under a god's power, you would never be safer. And I trusted him. James was born three years ago. And now, you're here."

My mother's eyes had filled with tears. David set a plate of food in front of me.

"Wait," he said, suddenly angry. "So you hooked up with this dude, called Hermes, like the greek god, who apparently has godly powers that protects people, had a child with him and then he took Zoe to someplace safe and you haven't seen her in nine years?"

"I'm sorry, David," my mother sobbed.

"Man, you guys are crazy," David said, shaking his head. "Look I know Zoe is your kid, but I don't want to have anything to do with some gods and all that stuff. You know I don't believe in that stuff."

"You don't believe in that stuff because you don't see it," I said, angry too. "That wrestler you see walking down the street, he's most likely a Cyclops hidden by the MIst."

"A what hidden by what?" David blinked.

"And this," I continued. I pulled out my short sword. "What do you see?"

David squinted at the sword. "A pen, why? Is there something special about it?" I turned to my mother. I had no idea if she could see through the Mist or not. I was about to find out.

"And you?"

My mother glanced at the sword and then back at me. "Why are you carrying a sword with you? You know that's dangerous!" She suddenly seemed disappointed

"It can't hurt you," I said. "Just demigods and monsters."

"Wait there are monsters, now?" David looked confused and mad. "What the the hell is this? Some kind of joke?" He pointed to me and laughed nervously. "You're holding a pen," he said and he pointed to my mother, "but you're saying she holding a sword."

"David, I'm sorry I didn't tell you any of this earlier," said my mother apologetically.

"Wait! How much is there to know?" David looked around nervously. "Are you guys playing a joke or something? Did you tell this girl to come in and try to convince me that there's no science, just gods and monsters?"

"No," I said shaking my head. "There really are gods and monsters out there. Sometimes, gods have children with mortals and I'm the product of one of these relationships." David stared at me, his mouth open.

"I'm going to bed," he said, shaking his head. "Maybe when I wake up, this will all just be a dream." He bent down and picked up James and took Claire's hand. He led them upstairs. I turned to my mother.

"You should eat before it gets colds," she said, pointing to my plate. I began to eat the broccoli and roast beef. "So, you have to tell me why you're here."

"What? You're mad I came here to ruin your perfect relationship with your husband?" I asked. "Because it looks pretty much ruined right now." My mother shook her head.

"No," she said calmly, sadly. "I'm so glad you finally came. But I expected you would come sooner."

"They wouldn't let me out of camp," I explained.

"You went to a summer camp? For nine years?" My mother smiled. "That's pretty cool."

"It isn't a normal summer camp. And it gets pretty boring after a while." My mother's smile faded. "But it's the safest place on earth."

"But now, you left, right?" she asked.

"It's not what you think," I said. "I'm still in that camp, but I'm on a quest. I have to go to San Francisco."

"With no adults?" She sounded worried.

I laughed coldly and shook my head. "Kidnappers are the least of my worries. You'd be surprised at how well I can defend myself."

"But you're alone."

"No, I have friends, but I told them that I'd rather be alone when meeting you." I suddenly realized that this was probably the first real conversation I'd ever had with my mom. She seemed pretty nice.

"Where are they?" she asked. I shrugged, I had no idea.

"Probably driving around the neighborhood."

"Driving? How old are they?" My mom looked suddenly worried.

"Thirteen, but it's a long story. Don't worry about them getting caught though." I chuckled.

"So, what are you going to do in San Francisco?" asked my mom. I stuffed a piece of beef into my mouth quickly chewed and then told her everything. She looked less worried than I thought.

I checked the time and realized it was ten. "I think I better take a shower," I said, pushing my plate away and moving towards the staircase.

"Yes, of course," my mother said. I caught her wrinkling her nose as I passed by. "Are your friends going to come?"

"Yeah, maybe in an hour," I guessed. My mom led me upstairs to a tiled bathroom. The tiles were white subway tiles and there was a big shower with a bench inside.

"Is this what you bought with Hermes' money?" I asked as I was handed a towel. My mom nodded and smiled a little.

"I'll get you some clothes," she said and closed the door behind her. I took a long shower. The warm water felt so good and the shampoo smelled very familiar. For a second I wondered if that was my mother's shampoo, or if she used the same one as before. Or maybe it was my old shampoo.

My mom had set out some clothes in front of the door. They fit my perfectly and I wondered if she had already bought those clothes when I was born, twelve years earlier.

I left the bathroom and wandered around the house. I remembered this hallway. My room was at the end of it. I reached the door.

A thin layer of dust coated the doorknob. No one had stepped into my room for years. I tried to open the door, but it was locked. I closed my eyes and very carefully picked the lock with my mind. There was a click and I turned the doorknob. For the first time in nine years, I stepped into my room.

The walls were painted baby blue, with white clouds. Kind of like the Toy Story movie. There was a small wooden bed near the window, and crayons were spread around the floor, collecting dust. Pictures of figures with round body and stick limbs were hung on the wall over a small desk. The window above the desk was closed and the shades didn't let any light in.

I sneezed from the dust and the sound seemed to be absorbed by the furniture. A toy doll lay on the floor next to the crayons and it seemed like it hadn't been touched in years. I stepped towards the bed, which had a thick pink comforter with drawings of a little girl flying a kite. Next to the bed was a wooden spinning top painted in colorful shades of yellow. In a corner was a floor lamp with a red cap.

It was as if I was three again, Alvin Bertram had just arrived and my mother was ready to hand me over, crying every tear in her body. I remembered now. Alvin putting me into a really large papoose and giving me a Ziplock bag filled with dried fruits and a bottle of water. I glanced at my mother one last time, tears streaming down her face, her body shaking, as the front door closed behind her. Why was she so sad? I was only going for a walk, the satyr had said to me. I was left staring into the hawk's eyes. They began to glow gold. The satyr stared into them. A good omen, he had said to me, patting the top of my head. My eyelids drooped and I felt myself being pulled under. I was so tired. Somewhere far away, I could hear sobbing, so painful that the satyr started crying too. A thick tear dropped onto my cheek. The sound grew farther and farther away until all I could hear was a soft sniffing and a rhythmic beating of hooves on concrete. And then, I was asleep.

I heard my mom coming in behind me. I turned around.

"You remembered where your bedroom was," she said calmly. "I haven't been in here since the satyr came to get you."

"You locked it," I noted.

"And you opened it," my mom said. "Maybe you can come back here when summer is over. You can live with me and David during the school year."

"I can be normal," I whispered to myself. The doorbell rang downstairs. "That's probably my friends." I followed my mom downstairs, leaving the door to my room open. My legs didn't feel as if they belonged to me anymore. It was as if I wasn't in my body anymore. Everything was numb. The sound of my feet on the steps were far off, as if I was in another room. There was a buzzing in my ears.

I opened the door to find Harry and a very old, but familiar looking man, standing in the doorway.

"Don't worry, it's still Damien," said Harry, half-carrying him inside.

"What happened?" I asked, worried, still in that weird state.

"Long story short, Damien was turned into an old guy because he was being disrespectful," explained Harry. He turned to my mom. "Hey, I'm Harry, this is Damien, but don't mind him. He'll turn back young eventually."

"Oh." She looked confused. "Uh… Would you like something to drink?"

* * *

Author's Note

Did anyone notice the easter egg in this chapter? If you found it, please explain what it is in the reviews. I'd like to see how many people found it. If no one finds it, I'll just tell you in the next chapter's Author's Note. Please fav this story because I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out. Keep reading, there's going to be an old character coming back for a big surprise.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	11. Chapter 11

Damien

I hated being old. My joints hurt so badly, it felt like they were on fire. I winced with every step and each time I turned my head, there would be a quick jolt pain in my neck, followed by warmth. My back was sore and my feet were cramping up from walking so much. I hoped that this was a very bad version of being old and I would never have to experience this.

Harry had me sit down on a comfortable couch in Zoe's mother's living room. The smell of rot that I let off was overpowering and diffusing throughout the room. I hoped she didn't mind.

"Are you guys going to spend the night here?" asked Zoe's mother. I glanced at Harry and the pain appeared again. I winced.

"Uh, if you don't mind," Harry said, shrugging.

"No, I get what you've been through." Zoe's mother nodded understandingly. "You two can take the guest bedroom. Zoe can take the other one."

Zoe sat down on the couch opposite of us. "So, what happened to you, Damien?" She didn't look worried. Just amused. I rolled my eyes. Harry quickly told her what happened.

"I think by tomorrow, he should be fine," Harry said. I could feel some strength coming back into my ol' bones. Zoe's mother brought some tea.

"I'll never be disrespectful again," I muttered and everyone laughed. I sipped some of the tea, my hand shaking uncontrollably. Harry took the cup back and set it on the table.

"You better get some rest," he said. He helped me up and led me upstairs, after Zoe's mother. She gave us one of the guest bedrooms, were a bed was already ready. Harry brought back our bags from the car.

I was too tired to take a shower and so I changed into my pajamas and slipped into bed. It felt good to finally change clothes. My eyelids drooped closed and I slipped away.

Strangely, I didn't have any dreams. I figured Hyppolytos was too busy trying to cure his blindness that he didn't bother to go see Ben, Ivy, and Gemma. I woke up and found that my hand was wrinkleless. I sat up, suddenly full of energy.

I could finally see clearly. I blinked. Ah, it felt so good being young.

I jumped out of bed and into the shower. I put on some fresh clothes and headed downstairs. Harry's bed was empty.

They were both eating breakfast downstairs. I checked the time. It was eight in the morning. Zoe's mother gave me a piece of toast and some butter. I quickly ate the whole thing.

"Uh… I think we should go, now," Zoe said, wiping her hands on a napkin uncomfortably. I looked around the kitchen. It was modern and well built. I could tell this woman had a lot of money.

"Yes," Zoe's mother nodded. Harry and I went to get our things so that Zoe and her mother could speak freely. When we came back downstairs, Zoe was already waiting by the door, her mother standing besides her. I saw them hug as I turned on the engine. Zoe's mother glanced at our car, confused, but didn't ask any questions. Zoe sat down next to Harry.

"So, we go to San Francisco, I guess," I said, driving away from Zoe's mother. Zoe didn't say anything.

"I guess so," Harry responded. "Let's go directly west, towards Iowa and Nebraska. Then, we can go south to Colorado and Utah. Then cross the Nevada desert and we're in California." I turned on the radio.

"Should be easy," I said. I drove out of Chicago and we found ourselves on a flat straight road that stretched towards the horizon. I slammed down the gas pedal.

In five hours, we had reached the outskirts Denver. I stopped the car in front of a ski station, which was completely empty, the ski lift chairs swinging lazily in the wind. There was not a single snowflake in sight and the mountains, usually white with snow, were just a bunch of boulders and grass and creeks. We had driven right through Denver, afraid to meet any unfriendly monsters.

We got out of the car and headed towards the station, which was built of wood and looked like a very large cabin from the Gold Rush. The deserted building stood in the middle of tall mountains and green grass and a single road led to it.

Zoe unlocked the front door with her psychic powers. Inside was a large room with tables set out around the area. On the far side was an empty counter and behind that, there was a kitchen.

"Maybe they still have some food left over from last winter," said Harry hungrily. We went to the kitchen, where there was a giant freezer. Inside were large stacks of steaks and frozen bread. "Who's up for hamburgers?"

While Harry and Zoe were cooking, I decided to scout the area for any monsters. If there weren't any, this would be the ideal spot to rest for a few hours. I walked around the building, where I found hundreds of skis locked up behind a gate.

Strangely, the ski boots section wasn't closed off. I wandered through the aisle. And then, I heard some hissing behind a row of boots. My heart skipped a beat and I ducked low.

"What's taking him so long?" asked a female voice. "I thought he would be ready by the twentieth?"

"I know," said another woman. The voice seemed oddly familiar, just a little older and coarser than the first person. I knew I'd heard it somewhere. "He was temporarily blinded by one of the demigods. He said he'll be ready by the Summer Solstice."

"He better be," said the first person. "And why are we meeting here anyways?"

The first woman spoke. "It's far from the gods reach, in the middle of nowhere." I suddenly realized why the voice was so familiar. I had to bite the collar of my shirt so that I didn't scream out.

Ms Gustavo continued: "Anyways, if we can intercept the rescue team, we'll make it easier for Hippolytus to get the three to Mount Tam. There, they'll take Atlas' spot."

"And what if the rescue team gets there before we can catch them?" asked the first person.

There was a sudden crash and a few heavy boots came crashing down on top of me. It took all my willpower not to shout out in pain. Someone choked. "Do not underestimate me. I chose you to come back from Tartarus with me so that you would be helpful. Consider yourself lucky you're in the mortal world in the first place. Don't disappoint me." A boot fell down next to me. My eyes grew wide and my heart started racing as I realized the conversation had stopped.

I jumped up, suddenly knowing I was in danger. I ran for the end of the aisle, from where emerged a pretty teenage girl with long blonde hair, a donkey leg, and a Celestial bronze leg. I turned around and there was Ms Gustavo blocking the other way.

"Uh oh," I said to myself. I looked up at the ceiling. I glanced back at both emposai and then began to climb the shelves. One of them slashed at my leg and ripped the bottom of my jeans. "My Levi's!" I yelled, annoyed. "I got those for my birthday, you freakin' empousa!" I threw down a heavy ski boot at Ms Gustavo's face and it broke her nose. Blood spilled all over her face.

"Well, I can't believe who this is!" she said with false sympathy. "Damien Alvares!" She jumped and grabbed the shelf just below me and began to pull herself up.

"No!" I screamed and hastily swiped my leg at a row of ski boots. They toppled down on top of my history teacher.

"You know the school year isn't over yet," she said angrily. "Why aren't you in school?"

I jumped up and realized the other empousa had managed to climb to the top of the shelving. I grabbed a boot and threw it at her. She easily ducked. I began to run the other direction, both empousai close behind.

I jumped down from the aisle, and into the bench area. I went for the glass door, the outside world just on the other side. It was locked. I glanced back at both of the empousai and I knew I couldn't take both of them on at once.

I grabbed my boomerang and using the smallest edge possible, smashed the glass door to bits. I jumped through into the cool afternoon air and ran for the ski lifts.

If I could power it on with a bit of time. I could jump into the nearest one and they wouldn't be able to get to me. Except if they had superhuman jumping skills. Oh right, they weren't human, they were monsters.

I reached the ski lift. Ms Gustavo and her partner in crime had just crossed the broken door. I reach for the controls and placed my hand on it. I busted the control panel open and began twisting wires. Sparks flew, but fire couldn't burn me.

I stood up and slammed down the _on_ button. The lifts began to move towards the top of the mountain. I cranked up the speed and ran after the one that was starting to lift away. I jumped from the very edge of the concrete slab and managed to grab the bar. The lift swung dangerously.

The ground became farther as I was lifted higher into the air. I gripped the bar tighter, remembering my fear of heights.

I managed to crawl onto the seat and took a deep breath, listening to the sound of the engine pulling me up. And then I heard the hissing. My stomach made a flip and my heart skipped a beat. I glanced behind me.

Ms Gustavo and the other empousa were about three seats behind me. I yelped and looked around. Except I had nowhere to go but down.

I was trapped.

* * *

Author's Note

Not sure when the next chapter will be posted. Last chapter's Easter Egg was the hawk's head on the front door of Zoe's home. The hawk is Hermes' sacred animal, which would explain why Katherine Melbourne put it there. Keep reading to find out if Damien manages to get himself out of this mess, or if he can't.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	12. Chapter 12

Damien

Ms Gustavo leaped to the next chair, quickly followed by the other empousa. The metal bench swung dangerously under the sudden weight.

A second before, I had been completely clueless about everything, but I suddenly knew exactly what to do. I pulled out the screwdriver that I always kept in one of my pockets and stood up.

Looking up at the sky was worse than looking down at the ground. Every time the chair rocked back and forth, I felt like I was falling, or going to fall over. I quickly unscrewed the bolts that attached the chair to the cable. I left just enough so that the chair was still attached to the cable.

I glanced back at Ms Gustavo and the empousa. I turned around and spotted a tower coming up ahead. Perfect.

The tower was ten feet away, then seven.

I spotted the metal rungs.

Six feet.

Ms Gustavo jumped onto the chair right behind me.

Three feet.

Her partner joined her.

One foot.

I jumped, my arms out ahead of me. I let out the scream that had been building up inside my chest since the beginning. I began to fall, my fingers just inches from the rungs.

I wrapped my hand around one of the rungs and my body slammed into the side of the tower. I grunted in pain. My whole right side was on fire.

I heard something break above my head me. I looked up to find the empousa falling, alongside the chair I'd been on seconds ago.

"You fool!" shouted Ms Gustavo, who had jumped onto the tower instead of my own chair. The empousa disintegrated on impact. "Didn't I tell you not to jump onto his chair? Didn't you see him unscrew it?"

I was about ten feet from the top, Ms Gustavo twenty feet below. Obviously, I couldn't go down, or I'd be ripped to shreds. So up was the only way.

I began to climb as fast as I could. I made it to the catwalk at the very top, panting heavily. I looked around. On each side were the massive cables that carried the chairs up and down the mountain. The wheels spun slowly, creaking and groaning. There were two cables above my head and a small sign with the number four on it.

I could hear Ms Gustavo just a few feet down. I had nowhere to go. There was no up or down.

Just sideways.

I suddenly realized that my only way out of this were the two cables overhead. I quickly took off my leather belt.

I was pretty tall for a twelve year old boy and with some stretching, managed to get the belt over the cable, the rough side against it. I glanced back and saw that Ms Gustavo had just arrived. I twisted around so I faced her

"Well," I said, grinning, trying not to show my fear. "It's just you and me again, isn't it?"

"You didn't finish school," she said angrily. I rolled my eyes, trying to act cool and chill.

"Do you really think school matter when people's lives are at risk?" I asked.

"They will help this world be a better place," Ms Gustavo growled. "They will hold up the sky and Atlas will go around the world. He will make your mortal lives better."

"How?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"He will kill you all and then take Zeus' throne in revenge," Ms Gustavo said, slowly inching forward. I was wary of her talons.

"Oh, that sounds nice," I said cheerfully. "But revenge for what?"

"Didn't I teach you this is school. Mr Alvares?" Ms Gustavo cried, clearly annoyed.

I chuckled to myself. "May I remind you that I only arrived a week before you tried to attack us?" I was about to let go of of the belt to raise my index, but suddenly remembered my life depended on this piece of leather. My body swung dangerously and I had to use all my core muscles to keep from falling off. I felt blood leaving my arms and the tips of my fingers growing cold, like when you cut off the circulation in your hands and your extremities seem to be cool to the touch.

"Argh," growled Ms Gustavo annoyed. I felt my shoulders and arms growing numb. "You and your stupid remarks. Stop being the wise guy."

"Are you going to stand there like an idiot?" I asked, growing more annoyed than afraid. "Or are you going to try to stop me from reaching Ben?"

To my surprise, Ms Gustavo nodded. "You're right, enough talk, more fighting." She bent her knees and then lunged at me with her talons slashing through the air.

I pushed off with my heels and found myself twisting around in the air. I swung towards the start of the ski lift and then back. I heard Ms Gustavo jump behind me, but she missed because my momentum drove me too far ahead. I heard her scream as she fell.

I felt myself spinning back again towards the platform. As I'd hoped, the friction from the rough side of the belt and the cable was too much to make me slide down and I was twisting back from the momentum of the first twist.

I jumped back onto the platform, accidentally dropping my belt as I went. My knees banged into the metal of the catwalk with my momentum and I nearly dropped over the other side, under the railing.

I breathed heavily. The feeling in my arms slowly came back as the muscles relaxed. I sat down on the catwalk and leaned my head against the railing, replaying everything in my mind. From the moment I heard them talking in the ski boots section to turning on the ski lift to Ms Gustavo falling off the catwalk.

"What a day," I whispered. I slowly got up and made my way back down to the ground. I let my knees sink to the floor and sighed with relief. It felt so good to be on the ground again.

In front of me was a pile of dust, from Ms Gustavo. A few feet away was my chair and another pile of dust from the other empousa.

I picked up my belt and examined it. There was a small groove from where it had rubbed the cable, but otherwise, it looked wearable.

I made my way back to the station. I liked the fresh air in these mountains. If I ever survived to reach adulthood, I would come and live here.

I reached the start of the ski lift and turned it off. Then, I went back to the station and crossed the broken door. I couldn't believe the mess I'd done inside. I hoped the manager wouldn't be too mad when he came back for winter.

I made my way to the big room with all the tables and found the kitchen. For a moment, my heart skipped a beat when I noticed that the grill was still on and there was a fresh stack of steaks next to it. But there was no one around.

"Harry! Zoe!" I called, suddenly panicking. I looked around, spinning in a circle. I was started to breath hard. If there were any more emposai in the area...

"Oh, hey Damien," Harry said, emerging from behind a set of grills. I stomach made a flip. He held a plate with a steaming stack of buns. "Looking for something?" He set the plate next to the cooked patties.

"Uh, no, no. Where Zoe?" I asked, watching as he cut open the buns.

"Looking for ketchup." Zoe appeared, holding a bottle of ketchup. She held it up triumphantly.

"Look what I found!" she said cheerfully. And then she saw my face. "Oh my gods, where did you get all those cuts?" I frowned and touched my face. Every time I smiled or frowned, my whole face seemed to sting.

"Oh, probably the glass," I guessed.

"What glass?" asked Harry.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. I think we can rest here a few hours. I got rid of all the monsters."

* * *

Author's Note

Next chapter will be posted in a few days. It will have one of the prophecy's lines completed.

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	13. Chapter 13

XIII

Harry

We arrived to Salt Lake City in about four hours. Damien didn't go as fast as before. His cuts had stopped bleeding but each time he spoke, laughed or frowned, he would wince right after. I still couldn't believe he had taken two empousae to himself. And I couldn't believe he'd met Ms Gustavo; and she wanted him to come back to school!

I got out of the car to stretch my legs. It suddenly dawned on me that we would only have two days to find Ben. I wondered what would happen if Hyppolytos decided to bring them to Mount Tam tomorrow. I shook my head, no, he wouldn't, he was probably still recovering from the temporary blindness. I hadn't had any dream of him while sleeping in the car.

Speaking of dreams, they were starting to disturb me now. The other night, while at Hypnos' motel, I'd dreamed of my mother. I hadn't seen her since the morning that day Ms Gustavo tried to kill me.

My mother, Bethany Seawood, worked for the Museum of Natural History, where she worked as a tour guide in the dinosaurs section. She made just enough money to support the both of us. I wished I could send her an Iris message right now, but I figured she was giving a tour to a group of gawking tourists and telling them all about the Piatnitzkysaurus. Yes, that's a real dinosaur.

We wandered into a candy shop and then decided to see the Great Salt Lake. We walked around the beach, talking about Hyppolytos and his plans.

"Wait so what did Atlas want revenge for?" asked Damien, confused.

Zoe explained, "After the first Titan war, Zeus decided to punish the everyone who had supported the movement, including the four Titans that held up the sky. Atlas laughed in their faces and told them that if they sent the four Titans that were holding up the sky to Tartarus, it would come crashing down. Zeus laughed back and retorted that Atlas would be the one who would hold up the sky by himself for the rest of eternity. A few years ago, he tried to escape, but he was trapped back under. Now, he wants revenge more than ever."

We were silent. "So, Atlas asked Hyppolytos to capture some demigods, beingz that were strong enough to hold up the sky but not too strong, for Atlas. And now he plans on delivering them to Atlas on the Summer Solstice?" I clarified.

"Exactly." Zoe nodded and bit her lower lip.

"But why on the Summer Solstice?" I asked.

"Because that's when all the gods meet on Mount Olympus. That's pretty much when the world is at its weakest because the most powerful part of the gods is in one place," explained Zoe.

"Why didn't anyone tell us this sooner?" cried Damien, throwing up his hands in dismay. He sighed. We kept walking.

The smell of the salty water was overpowering, even though I knew it wasn't the sea. It seemed to give me strength. The past few days' weariness went away the farther we walked on the beach.

Something caught my eye up ahead. A large dark mass sitting a quarter mile away from us.

"What is that?" I nodded towards the mass.

"I don't know," Zoe said, squinting at it. "Let's check it out."

"Better not be something dangerous," muttered Damien, pulling out his Celestial Bronze boomerang. As we got closer, I noticed that there were squares on the side of the mass, that shone like the northern lights against a dark night sky, the colors twisting and spinning on themselves like ribbons of smoke. I was so mesmerized by the lights that Zoe had to nudge my ribs so that I could snap out of my trance.

I blinked as she pointed to the edge of the mass, were there was another smaller boulder-like mass that also had those strange squares covered in northern lights. With a start, I realized the squares were scales and that the giant mass was slowly moving up and down, breathing.

I stepped back in shock. "What is that?" I found myself whispering harshly, as if not to wake up the creature.

"I think it's a dragon." Zoe frowned. Damien held up his boomerang at a slight angle, the point turned towards the lake, on our left.

"What would a dragon be doing here?" asked Damien, a little too loudly. The dragon breathed out suddenly and the three of us jumped in fright. Suddenly, our weapons were in hand.

The dragon began to move, its massive head spinning towards us until its yellow eyes looked directly into my own sea green eyes. I raised my sword as Zoe and Damien slowly stepped back.

"Harry…" I could feel her looking at me, concerned.

"What are you doing, Harry?" asked Damien, realizing that I wasn't following them. I gripped my sword with both hands and looked the dragon directly in the eyes. Bad idea.

Something lashed out on my right and its tail slammed into my side and sent me flying towards the water. Luckily, the water felt like a cushion and I felt myself sink slowly. In a split second, my feet touched the sandy floor.

I stood up and found myself chest deep in water. Suddenly, my vision sharpened and a powerful burst of adrenaline flowed through my body.

I did my best not to run straight at the dragon, who was staring at me. A wave of flames erupted from my right, where Damien was standing and hit the dragon full on. It didn't seem to do any harm, but the part where the flames had licked its scales was growing bright red.

"No!" I shouted as the dragon turned to Damien, more annoyed than angry. "This is my fight!" Suddenly, I knew that this wasn't a random obstacle. This was something different. I knew it. Damien frowned and those deep wrinkles appeared on his forehead. They hadn't been there before we'd met Geras.

I raised my sword and pointed it to the dragon, who had turned back to me. "It's you and I." I charged forward and the water didn't seem to slow me down. If anything, it pushed me from the back.

I jumped out of the water, while it only came up to my knees and somehow the water seemed to propel me twenty feet forward, right onto the dragon's head. I swung my sword in a wide arc and slashed the side of its face opened.

It roared in anger as I landed back down, just a few feet from the lake. The dragon looked down at me and opened its mouth. A plume of fire erupted out of its mouth. I raised my arms and a wall of water appeared between me and the dragon.

A great amount of steam rose up and my wall of water fell, as well as the fire. I charged out of the steam and slashed at the neck. Blood poured out, but it wasn't red. It was all sorts of color. The colors of the northern lights.

It clicked in my mind. The lights I'd seen on its scales were the veins pumping blood beneath all that armor. I was guessing the scales were either transparent or tinted black. Slashing and jabbing was doing no harm to the dragon, just making minor cuts that could easily heal. I suddenly realized what I had to do.

I charged forward, yelling a battle cry. I drove my sword forward and with all my strength, jabbed it between two scales, right on his chest. The sword stopped and my hands slipped forward, past the guard and my palms were cut by the sharp edges.

I didn't care.

The dragon stood up on its hind legs and I barely had time to grab onto the handle before I was lifted into the air. The dragon spun around, roaring in pain. It swung and my hands slipped.

I was sent flying into the lake but I quickly surfaced. I swam towards shore, willing the currents, which weren't very powerful around here, to follow me. I felt them getting stronger, pushing against my feet and back. I felt myself being lifted out of the water, ten, maybe fifteen feet from the surface.

I realized that I was surfing at the very top of the wave, a solid block of ice underneath my feet. I crouched down and pushed my hands forward towards the dragon, groaning. It felt like I was pushing through thick mud. The wave went faster.

Just before it crashed in the dragon's chest, I let myself sink through the wave, raising my hands until they grabbed the hilt of my sword. With the power of the currents behind me and my enhanced power, I pushed the blade deeper into the dragon's chest.

I felt one of his ribs break. The water faded away. I found myself standing on wet sand, completely dry. I was holding the hilt of my sword, the only part that emerged from the dragon's chest. The dragon itself was lying down on its side, not moving.

I took a step back and watched as the dragon dissolved into dust. My sword, surprisingly, turned to dust too. The remains were scattered by the wind. All that remained were small triangular shaped pieces in the sand.

I looked at them for a second and then decided to pick them up. I slipped them into my pocket and returned to Zoe and Damien. They stared at me, confused.

"What was that about?" Damien shook his head. I realized they were both wet. "That wave must've been at least fifteen feet tall! And you were surfing on it!"

"There is no doubt you are a son of Poseidon," Zoe confirmed. "You were right to take the teeth. If you sow them to the earth, they will raise an army."

"What about my sword?" I asked, patting my pocket. The keychain hadn't appeared.

"The dragon was sacred to Mars. If you killed it, he punishes you. I guess this is it," Zoe said.

"But it was a gift from my father," I complained. Chiron had told me that just after leaving camp, when Damien and Zoe had been saying goodbye to their own cabins. He'd also told me that it could magically reappeared in my pocket if I ever lost it. The shape that had been engraved on the keychain had been a trident, Poseidon's symbol.

"I don't think you'll ever get it back," Zoe said.

"What am I supposed to use?" I asked, raising my hands, helpless. Damien stepped forward, holding up the watch I'd seen him wearing.

"I think I have an idea," he said. He quickly took off the watch and handed it to me. "Bill told me I could build something at camp, and this was the only idea I had." I put on the watch, uncertainly.

"Press that button," he explained, pointing to the crown. The watch had a simple design, with black leather and a heavy case made of Celestial bronze. The arrows were also made of celestial bronze on a white dial. The numbers were painted gold and engraved in the metal. The arrows lazily turned around. Once I pushed the crown, there were several clicks inside and suddenly, plates of Celestial bronze spiraled out. I stepped back in surprise. In a split second, I was holding a concave disk. A strap of leather had appeared out of the shield and wrapped around my forearm.

"An aspis," Zoe mentioned. The shield was surprisingly light for being metal. I turned it so that I could see the other side and there was a trident on the front.

"How do you know it would be for me?" I asked., frowning. Damien shrugged.

"I knew it was your birthday, a few days before we left, and I was going to give it to you, but then I discovered that it wasn't very good, so I had to fix it," explained Damien. I shrugged.

"Thanks," I said, twisting my wrist.

"Oh, and happy late birthday," added Damien. Zoe wished me a happy birthday too. "You're thirteen now, right?" I nodded.

"Oh, by the way, when's your birthday?" I asked.

"March, why?" asked Damien. I shook my head, remembering how Hebe had asked me when his birthday was. I had been nearly a year off. He was already thirteen.

* * *

Author's Note

Next chapter will be posted next week because I'll be really busy. Put this is your favorites so you know when it gets posted. Keep reading, the trio has almost made it to San Francisco. Or is it really to San Francisco they need to go?

Note: I do not own any of the material from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series or _The Heroes of Olympus_ series and created by Rick Riordan. I do not make any money off of this story either. Rated T just to be safe, and there is some violence.


	14. Chapter 14

Zoe

I was relieved when I saw the _Welcome to San Francisco_ sign. It was as if the tension that had been in the air the whole time dropped steeply. And it suddenly spike as we all remembered the impossible task ahead.

Harry was rolling one of the dragon teeth in his hand; he didn't have his keychain to spin around his index finger anymore. I'd given him my shortsword in addition to Damien's shield. I had a few daggers with me anyways, so it wasn't like I was completely defenseless.

We stopped at a food truck to get food. Unsurprisingly, Harry got quesadillas. I found it surprising that it was only this morning that I had left my mother.

Speaking of which, I was really hoping to get to know her better. And David, of course. If I ever joined her for the school year, then I would need to deal with David. Claire and James wouldn't understand my situation, they would probably even find it cool.

With the car parked in a safe spot, we decided to walk around San Francisco. Harry told us he'd always wanted to ride the tram, so we bought tickets and rode it to the Golden Gate Bridge. Fog was starting to settle in, obscuring our view of Marin County.

"We should find that cave they were in," I suggested, turning to Harry and Damien.

"Where do we find a cave?" asked Harry, frowning. His new watch glinted in the sunlight. He looked less scrawny than before he had killed the dragon. His expression was different, as if he had found his purpose. He looked powerful and I remembered how he had looked like when he'd fought the dragon. So full of life. I shook my head quickly. "I suppose there aren't that many in San Francisco."

"Well, maybe we can find some out of town," Damien suggested. "It's the twentieth, we have until tomorrow anyways."

"We should start looking around, then," I said and we turned away from the Golden Gate Bridge. After two hours of looking around, we finally found a tourist center. Its was nine at night by then.

The sun was starting to go down and people were returning home, but the bars were crowded. No wonder; it was a friday.

The lady was about to close when she saw us coming in. She looked surprised to see three preteens rushing in at this time.

"Uh, hello, are you lost?" she asked. I glanced at Harry and Damien and figured that since I was the daughter of Hermes, god of trickery, I could trick her into thinking that we weren't that weird.

"Hi," I said cheerfully, as if nothing was wrong. "No, we're not lost."

"Oh," the lady seemed relieved. She smiled a little and stood up behind her counter to turned off her computer. "Well, do you need any help?"

"Yes, we do, actually," I said, nodding and smiling. The light from the computer turned off. "Do you know where we can find any caves nearby?" The lady's smile faded.

"Excuse me?"

"Caves," I repeated. "Do you guys have any around here?"

"Uhh…" The lady glanced at the three of us and then sighed. She turned her computer back on. "Sorry, it takes a long time to start." She smiled nervously. There was a full minute of awkward silence, where she shifted from foot to foot nervously. "Ah, there it is… You have quite an odd request."

I shrugged and didn't answer. She typed something in. "We usually don't have many people coming in here at this time. Especially asking to see caves at night."

I glanced back at Harry and Damien, silently asking for help. Damien stepped forward. "Uh, yeah I know it's pretty weird, but ya know…" My shoulders slumped.

 _Seriously?_ I flashed him an angry look.

 _Sorry,_ he mouthed quietly.

"Ah, well, I suppose you're not looking for caves, as in bars and night clubs," the lady said and I caught Harry grimace at the words night clubs. "Are you looking for the natural formations?"

My stomach leaped. "Yes!" The lady jumped. "Uh, sorry, I mean, yes, yes, natural formations."

"Well, I'm sorry, but it's closed for the night," the lady apologized. I glanced at Harry who shrugged like it didn't matter.

"Oh, it's alright," I shrugged too. "Where are those caves." The lady eyed me suspiciously. Ok, maybe I hadn't inherited the trickery part of Hermes.

"Vasco Caves Regional Preserve," said the lady, slowly. She looked at the three of us. "What are you guys up to?"

"Well, it was great meeting you! Thanks for the help!" Harry said a little too fast. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the tourist center, Damien right behind us. We glanced back at her through the windows and she was looking at us, a phone to her ear.

Harry suddenly seemed to realize that he was still holding me and quickly let go. It was then that I'd realized the little jump in my stomach when he'd touched me. I quickly looked away, blood rushing to my face. Damien didn't seem to notice, but Harry certainly did, even though he didn't say anything.

"We better go," Damien said and Harry and I followed him to our car. I tried not to look at Harry. We got in and I found myself sitting next to him.

Damien didn't need a GPS, whatever that was. He drove like a madman, muttering things under his breath.

"If I drive fast enough, we'll be there in twenty minutes instead of an hour," he finally said aloud. We glanced at him. He was right. Twenty minutes later, we were in a parking lot.

"Where are the caves?" I asked. I spotted a little building at the edge of the parking lot. I made my way towards it to find that it was the ticket booth.

The park was completely empty. On the facade of the building was a map. Harry and Damien joined me. I tapped the map.

"That's where the caves are," I said. "Unfortunately, we'll have to walk there. It's a hiking trail." We all groaned. Harry checked his watch, concerned. That frown he made…

"It's nine thirty," he said. "In three and a half hours, Hyppolytos will take them to Atlas."

"We have to hurry," Damien said, and he was the first one who began to walk. I drew one of my daggers, the Celestial bronze glowing faintly in the dark. The sun was now completely down and it was growing darker by the minute.

I wished I had a flashlight with me. I could hear Harry breathing behind me, tense. I gripped my dagger more tightly. The tension in the air was unbearable, but if Hyppolytos was around…

After an hour, we reached a large rock formation with a bunch of weathered holes in them. Unfortunately, the holes drilled right through the rock and I could see the other side.

"These aren't real caves," I whispered. "The cave they're in is closed on all sides. I never spotted an entrance."

Damien nodded and Harry looked uncomfortable. I suddenly thought of Ben. _He_ was the one I was here for. "Let's keep looking." We separated and I was glad I was not with Harry. I couldn't tell what my feelings were for him. And then there was Ben.

I didn't have the time with me, but the more time we spent looking for the cave, the more nervous I got. It was hard to see; the moon was covered by clouds. From time to time, I could hear Harry or Damien walking around nearby.

Suddenly, there was a cry. I was on full alert, my dagger ready to throw. I leaped over a rock and sprinted through the boulders. Something slammed into my chest and knocked the breath out of me.

"Careful!" Harry cried, holding my arm. He forced me to take a step back. In front of me was a giant hole in the ground.

"What is that?" I tried to catch my breath. "A sinkhole?" Harry shrugged.

"I think Damien fell down it," he said. "We should go get him." He glanced at me and I suddenly realized it was just the two of us.

"Yeah, you're right," I said, turning to the hole. It wasn't to check for Damien, but to not gaze into his eyes. I crouched down and found handholes all over the wall. They were nearly all from boulders and rocks protruding out of the earth. I made my way down and it seemed like an interminable descent. I could hear Harry breathing heavily above me, holding up my short sword so that the glow could help me find my next foothold.

Finally, I reached the bottom. My shoes splashed into a puddle of water and mud. I groaned.

Harry jumped down next to me and held up my shortsword. We were at the entrance of a tunnel and in front of us was a bag. I gasped.

"Damien!" I hurried to the bag to find that it had been tossed around and ripped multiple times. There were signs of a skirmish in the mud.

"What happened?" asked Harry. "Did they take him too?" I picked up his bag and wires and clothes spilled out of it. A bottle of nectar lay nearby, uncapped.

"I think he landed here and shouted. He was hurt." I looked around, trying to guess the events. "So he uncapped the bottle of nectar to cure himself, but he never had a chance to drink it. They took him before we could get down here."

Harry held up his watch to the shortsword and squinted. "Zoe." He sounded panicked.

I turned to him, still holding the bag. "What?" I asked, worried.

"It's eleven fifty. We have ten minutes until the solstice."

We were hurrying down the hallway, but the mud was slowing us down too much. Harry checked his watch again and suddenly stopped. I nearly ran into him.

"What?" I asked, panting. He glanced at me and my heart dropped.

"It's midnight." My shoulders slumped and I glanced at the seemingly endless hallway.

"Maybe they're still packing up," I suggested hopefully. But we both knew they wouldn't be there. We kept on going.

Finally, we reached a cave. It was giant, with rough stone walls and a muddy flour. A single torch was attached to a wall. On the other side were three tall wooden poles, chains and handcuffs hanging from them.

I fell to my knees. "No…" I couldn't believe that they had only been there ten minutes ago, and now they were gone. I had been so close and now they weren't there. My throat tightened and I felt tears in my eyes. "No…"

Harry walked over to one of the poles and reached up until he could grab Ben's left handcuff. It was covered in fresh blood. We were silent for a while, neither of us believing the fact that we had failed.

"Wait," whispered Harry and his voice echoed throughout the cave. "Where did they take them?"

I shrugged. "I guess where Atlas holds up the sky." I felt empty and for a second, I didn't see the point of continuing.

"Where is that?" asked Harry, walking towards me. He helped me up and I suddenly felt weak.

"In Ancient Greece," I said slowly. "It was Mount Othrys."

"Then, let's go to Mount Othrys." Harry sounded hopeful. I shook my head, depressed.

"No," I muttered. "You don't understand." Harry frowned, and the color drained from his face. "That was in ancient times, he isn't on Mount Othrys anymore. He's on Mount Tamalpais."

Harry suddenly looked full of energy. "Then, let's go there!"

"It's two hours from here. And without Damien to drive us…" Harry sat down next to me, suddenly understanding that it was hopeless.

"So, we failed," he finally said. He jabbed my short sword in the mud and I didn't mind it getting dirty. He sighed. "There is no way…"

I suddenly looked up and gasped. "Wait." I jumped to my feet. "How could I be so stupid!" I slapped my forehead. Harry sat up.

"What?" He looked around, on high alert.

"My dad's the god of speed!" I realized. Harry looked confused. "I have a way to get there." I grabbed Harry's hand and for once, I didn't feel anything. He looked uncomfortable.

"Wait, what are you doing?" I didn't answer. I closed my eyes.

 _Hermes,_ I thought, _I know you're listening. If this is what you were saying when you said I would make the finally move, then I know what to do. I just need a lot of speed._

The cave was silent for an awkward moment.

Suddenly, I felt something tug at my feet. I found myself running across the land, Harry still holding onto my hand. I looked back to see that he was running beside me. The land was just a green and gray blur going passed us. My ears popped.

I realized we were going faster than the speed of sound. My jeans were steaming and the balls of my feet were growing warmer by the second.

And then, we were there, at the top of Mount Tamalpais. I stumbled and fell, Harry beside me. I breathed in sharply, suddenly drained of energy. I felt the inside of my thighs burning from the rubbing of my jeans. The bottom of my shoes were steaming and every millimeter of it had been used.

I stood up and helped Harry to his feet. A dozen feet to my left sat four demigods, bound by thick ropes. In the middle, I recognized Ben, with his golden hair shining in the moonlight. On each side were Gemma and Ivy and next to Ivy was Damien, who was struggling against the ropes.

And in front of me was Hyppolytos.

* * *

Author's Note

Sorry for leaving off with a cliffhanger. If you liked it, please fav this story. I don't know when the next chapter will be, but it will include the final battle, or part of it. Thanks for reading and commenting. :-)


	15. Chapter 15

XV

Damien

We emerged from the trees and found ourselves in a massive field of boulders and grass. Holes seemed to have been drilled into the side of the boulders and I could see through the other side.

Zoe stood next to me. "These aren't real caves," she whispered. "The cave they're in is closed on all sides. I never spotted an entrance." I nodded. I remembered how I could only see one side of the cave, and Hyppolytos would enter from behind me, so there still had to be an entrance. Zoe wasn't quite right about that. "Let's keep looking." I walked away from the group and looked around the boulders, checking my watch every minute. My breathing was becoming more labored and I found myself getting nervous. Time was going by faster than I liked. From time to time, I would hear Zoe or Harry on the other side of a boulder, looking for the cave entrance.

I jumped over a rock and found my feet slipping on the wet grass beneath me. And then, I was falling. "Woaw!" was all I managed. I knew the fall only lasted a second or two, but it seemed like an eternity.

I felt my feet sink into mud and I rolled instinctively, like Chiron had taught me at Camp. Pain shot up both of my ankles and I cried out. I covered my mouth with muddy hands and looked up at the hole above me. Moonlight barely reached me down here. I pulled out my boomerang and took off my bag. To my left was the entrance to a tunnel.

I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a bottle of nectar. Before I opened it, I pulled out a few wires and shoved them into my pocket. Something told me I would need them later. I put my boomerang back in its holder and uncapped the bottle of nectar.

Just then, I heard footsteps coming down the tunnel towards me. I waited at the opening and pulled out my boomerang, ready to throw it.

Two Cyclopes appeared in front of me, holding massive clubs.

"Ha, so this is the rescue team Camp Half-Blood sent?" asked one of them.

"I'm sooo scared," said the other sarcastically.

"Hey!" I barked. The both of them turned to me, snarling. "I'm _right_ here!" The first Cyclops chuckled and shook his head.

"And if you think I'm not a threat, than be prepared to be amazed!" I said, as if I was a magician ready to reveal his best trick. I set down my bottle of nectar and held up my hands. They caught on fire.

"Ohhh! We're sooo scared!" said the sarcastic Cyclops.

"How do you expect to get away with two broken ankles?" asked the first Cyclops. I glanced down at my feet and realized that I couldn't even walk.

"And how are you going to set us on fire if we're immune to it?" asked the sarcastic Cyclops. I let the fire fade. The reality sunk in. Holy Hephaestus, I was in deep trouble.

I threw my boomerang at one of the Cyclops but he easily dodged it. "Ha, you think you can fool me!" He was the sarcastic one.

"Yes." I said, perfectly calm. The boomerang came spinning back and hit him in the back of the head. "I think I can." The Cyclops fell to the floor. I turned to the other Cyclops. "He's pretty sarcastic isn't he?"

"That's my brother!" roared the Cyclops and rushed towards me I rolled over as he dove for me. He landed a few feet away, his weight shaking the ground.

"Wow," I said. "Be careful big fella. Don't want to bring down the whole tunnel, do you?" The Cyclops stood up and turned to me. His single large eye twitched, annoyed.

"You are very annoying!" He lunged at me and I rolled over again, towards my boomerang, which was lying close to the other Cyclops.

"You think so?" I asked, turning to him. "Well, my friends think I'm very helpful." I know, I know, they never said that, but so what? I got them a pretty cool looking car, anyways.

"I think Hyppolytos will find you even more helpful," said the Cyclops and this time he dove forward and I had nowhere to go. He grabbed me but landed on top of his brother. His brother came to and pushed him off groaning.

"Why do my ribs hurt so much?" he growled, standing up. The Cyclops who had caught me stood up. My legs dangled in the air helplessly. At least I didn't have to use my ankles now.

"I've got him," said the Cyclops, holding me up triumphantly. "Let's bring him to Hyppolytos." The sarcastic Cyclops bent down and took my boomerang.

"What use is a twisted sword?" he muttered, looking at the boomerang curiously. I rolled my eyes.

"It's a boomerang!" I shouted. The Cyclops glanced at me, annoyed.

"We should go," he said and started down the tunnel. I glanced up at the hole and the moon appeared behind some clouds. The Cyclops holding me entered the tunnel and the moon disappeared.

"Harry. Zoe." I whispered, desperate. "Help me."

The Cyclops walked down the tunnel for what seemed like an hour. I couldn't check my watch because both my arms and legs were trapped by the Cyclops' grip. Finally, the tunnel opened into a large cave, with rough rock walls and a single torch lighting it up. In front of me stood a thirty foot tall giant, exactly like the one I'd seen in my dreams. Behind him were three demigods hanging from chains attached to large wooden poles.

My breath caught in my throat.

I couldn't believe I was actually seeing this cave in real life. All along during the quest, I'd doubted I'd ever make it to this stage, to see Ben, Gemma and Ivy alive and to have Hyppolytos looking down at me.

"So, is this the rescue mission Chiron sent?" he asked. "I am a little surprised he would send a single demigod." I twisted in the Cyclops' grip. "Let him down. We're going to leave soon enough. It's nearly midnight anyways and Atlas is growing impatient."

Pain shot through my ankles as the Cyclops put me down. I cried out in pain and fell down. I saw the figure in the middle, Ben, struggling.

I knew I had to go talk to him and since the monsters in this cave all seemed preoccupied, I decided to crawl to him. No one noticed during the first few moments, but then, I felt them pointing at me and laughing.

"What a weakling!" cried one of the monsters.

"I caught him!" said someone else. I groaned and kept moving, clawing at the damp earth. Finally, I reached Ben and sat down.

"Who are you?" he asked weakly.

"Damien," I said, my head spinning. I didn't feel well. "I'm here to rescue you." Ben looked at me as if I was dumb. "Yeah, I know, the conditions aren't that great."

"Is there anyone else?" he asked. I hesitated. I knew all the monsters were listening, even though they were turned away. I shook my head. Ben sighed and looked disappointed. "Do you know what they're going to do with us? I mean, once we get to Atlas."

"They'll make you hold up the sky," I explained. "By the way, good job on blinding him." Ivy breathed in sharply and looked around. She spotted me sitting on the floor.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"He's Chiron's rescue team," Ben said. Ivy frowned and looked me over.

"You're kidding me, right? I've never seen you before." I nodded.

"Yeah, I arrived just after you left for the quest," I explained.

Ben added, " And he's all alone." Ivy frowned and said that that wasn't possible. "I know, I don't understand."

"It's time to go!" Hyppolytos said cheerfully, clapping his hands together. Monsters hurried over to me and carried me onto a wheelchair. Ben, Gemma and Ivy were finally detached from their handcuffs and collapsed on the floor. I didn't know when was the last time they'd eaten or walked, but they really didn't look in good shape. Nevertheless, Hyppolytos made them walk.

We reached the outside, where there were several minibuses waiting. I was separated from Ben, Ivy and Gemma. The monster who drove went at breakneck speed. I closed my eyes and prayed that Harry and Zoe would know where we were going, because I had no idea.

We drove on the outskirts of San Francisco. The whole while, I had my hand placed on the side of the car, feeling the mechanics and trying to rig the motor. But my mind was slow and I couldn't concentrate. I was in too much pain.

We reached the top of a mountain, where there were a bunch of ruins. Someone threw me out of the minibus and I groaned. They tied me up and sat me down next to Ivy. I was breathing heavily, ready to throw up.

Hyppolytos arrived. "I'm sure you have other companions," he said to me. "Where are they?"

"I told you already," I said, but had to stop to throw up on his scaly legs. Hyppolytos jumped back in disgust. "I don't have any companions." Ivy groaned in disgust and inched away from me, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Sorry."

Hyppolytos pulled out my boomerang and tossed it in the air. He caught it. "Well, then I guess we'll just have to start" He stepped aside and behind him crouched a man in a business suit, holding up something invisible. His forehead was coated in sweat and every once in awhile, he would groan with effort.

"Hyppolytos," he yelled in a strong voice. "Hurry! It's past midnight!" Hyppolytos looked up at the moon.

"You are right," he said. He turned to me. "Who shall go first?" No one spoke. There was a boom and it was like a plane had passed right over us. Everyone jumped at once. Zoe and Harry suddenly appeared, their clothes steaming. They fell down in the dirt, exhausted.

After a few seconds, they stood up and I saw Zoe looking around and glancing at me. I was wiggling, a plan forming in my head. And then she looked at Hyppolytos, who was standing right in front of her.

I manage to turn so that my back was to Ivy."What are you doing?" she hissed angrily, keeping an eye on Hyppolytos.

"There are some wires in my pocket, you need to take them out for me, I can't reach it," I explained.

"What -" she stopped herself and sighed, annoyed. She managed to maneuver so that her hand reached into my right pocket. She pulled out the wires and I held out my hand behind me. She groaned and leaned towards me and I took the wires from her.

"Got them!" I whispered triumphantly. I glanced at Hyppolytos.

" ...should go first," he was saying looking at Zoe. "After all, your father is the one who I am supposed to kill."

"Oh, no," I muttered. I suddenly remembered the prophecy. _Stealer or Stolen trapped._ If Zoe was the stealer and Hyppolytos was the stolen, was it possible that Zoe would be the one trapped under the sky?

Hyppolytos pushed her towards Atlas. Harry seemed frozen in fear and Zoe's face was drained of color. Zoe marched forward obediently.

"Zoe!" I shouted. I'd stopped twisting the wires behind my back. Ben had managed to roll towards her, still bound by his ropes. "Ben! What are you doing!"

Hyppolytos pushed Zoe forward until she was two feet from Atlas. Then, he pushed her and she fell next to Atlas, who rolled out of the way. Zoe raised her hands and shouted in pain.

Atlas stood up triumphantly. "Free!" The shout was so loud that birds on a nearby tree flew off in fear.

Harry suddenly realized what was going on and he rushed forward, sword raised. "NO!" He slashed at Atlas, but a spear appeared in his hands and he parried. A fight erupted between the two of them. Hyppolytos turned to Ben.

I felt the wire growing warm in my hands. I pressed it against the rope that held my hands together and there was a simmering sound. The rope fell loose around my wrists.

Hyppolytos raised his foot over Ben and stomped down. A horrible, bloodchilling cry erupted from Zoe's and Ivy's mouths (Gemma was unconscious). There was a golden flash and beneath Hyppolytos' foot stood a man, arms raised, holding up the weight that had nearly killed Ben.

Author's Note

Hey, if you liked it, how about you fav this? Just a suggestion ;-)


	16. Chapter 16

XVI

Harry

Atlas and I paused when we heard the horrible screams. There was a blinding golden flash and suddenly, a man was holding up Hyppolytos' foot, groaning. No, it wasn't Atlas, but Hermes.

Summoning all his strength, he threw off Hyppolytos' ugly foot and the giant stumbled back. There was a war cry and Atlas charged forward, suddenly full of energy. I stepped aside and jabbed at his business suit.

He parried easily and jabbed back. I dodged and swung my short sword in a wide arc. I didn't like how I had to get so close to him. I wished I had my own sword. Atlas was too slow. The sharp edge cut through his business suit and golden ichor dripped out.

Atlas grunted and rushed at me again. He was much faster than before and I could barely keep up. I didn't even know what kept me alive. Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted Hermes and Hyppolytos fighting. Hermes circled around him faster than the eye could follow.

I saw an opening in Atlas' defense and lunged forward like a pro fencer, crouching down low and jabbing at his stomach. My short sword pierced through his skin and Atlas stumbled back in shock, the blade still in his abdomen. He gasped and looked down. A thin line of ichor rolled out of his mouth

"I will get you someday," he growled and disappeared disappeared, taking Zoe's sword with him.

"Harry!" The voice was panicky. I turned to see Zoe crouching under the weight of the sky. A strand of her hair had turned gray and she looked twenty years older. Deep wrinkles formed on her forehead and she looked weak. "I need to fight Hyppolytos with my father."

"Yes," I nodded stupidly, crouching down next to her. I held up my hands. "I'm ready." Zoe slowly shifted the weight from her shoulders to mine and rolled away. It was like when you did too many push-ups but you kept on going. You don't know if you can push all the way up because you don't know if you would collapse or not. I don't know if it would be easy after a while, like when you were at the peak of your push-up and it seems as if part of your weight had been lifted off you even if it's still there.

My vision blurred. I saw Damien getting to his knees, suddenly free of his ropes. He hurried to cut off the ropes of a small girl next to him with a couple of glowing wires. Next to the small girl was another taller girl, unconscious and deathly pale.

The boy had rolled away from Hyppolytos, who was fighting both Hermes and Zoe at once. I groaned and a strand of hair fell over my face. I saw it was slowly turning gray, from the root down.

I didn't know if I could hold on much longer. I felt as if any second, I would collapse, the weight of the sky crushing me. My arms were shaking and every one of my cells was on fire. I breathed heavily.

 _Stealer or Stolen trapped._

For the first time, I understood that line. Zoe was the stealer and Hyppolytos was the stolen, since he was the opposite of Hermes. Zoe had been trapped under the weight of the sky, but I'd taken it back. It wasn't my job to hold it.

It was Hyppolytos' job.

"Zoe!" I shouted, but my voice sounded weak. "Zoe!" she glanced at me, Hermes preoccupying Hyppolytos.

I nodded towards him and then down at my feet. She frowned for a second. And then, she nodded.

"Father!" she shouted at Hermes. He glanced at her. She pointed to me and then Hyppolytos. He seemed to understand. He charged towards Hyppolytos and pushed him back towards me. Hypolytos tripped, an avalanche of attacks raining down on him. He covered his face and pushed himself back.

He was just a few feet few away. Just a tiny bit more.

There!

I rolled away and the sky smashed down on his ugly face. Quickly, he put up his hands and pushed the sky back up.

I was lying down a dozen feet away, staring up at the sky.

I couldn't feel my arms. The world was spinning around me and my whole body was on fire. Shouts were faroff. I heard fighting somewhere on the other side of the mountains. The monsters were finally attacking us, but they didn't seem to pay any attention to me.

The world, which was already dark, became even darker. I felt my head roll over and my eyes close.

Zoe was crouching beside me, slapping my cheek. For a second, I thought I was in Hypnos' motel, when she had been trying to wake me up by slapping me. The golden-haired boy was on my other side, holding a bottle of nectar and a few pieces of ambrosia.

He helped me into a sitting position and fed me a piece of ambrosia. It tasted like quesadillas. Exactly like the way my mom made them. The nectar tasted like quesadillas too, which I found a little weird since I was drinking it and you don't drink quesadillas.

Next to Zoe was a middle-aged man with curly black hair. He had a mischievous grin, like Zoe, but that was as far as resemblance went.

"Harry," Zoe whispered. My stomach twisted on itself, like the way it did ever since I had defeated the dragon and she had looked at me that way. But then she glanced at the boy and she looked relieved. There was that same look in her eyes.

"I'm Ben," said the boy. He had golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He seemed to glow a little. He was about thirteen maybe little older than I was.

"Harry," I said weakly and shook his hand.

"Well, what a great reunion," said the man.

Zoe turned towards him and I suddenly realized it was Hermes. "Thank you, Father." She sounded earnest and grateful. And it wasn't just a light thank you, I could tell there was much more behind those three words. Especially the way she said _Father_.

"You guys must better head back to Camp Half-Blood," Hermes said. "I understand that Harry, here, can't really take a plane, but I think Zeus can make an exception." I smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, Lord Hermes," I said. Hermes nodded.

"My pleasure… However, you let Atlas get away," he added. A weight seemed to be brought down on my chest. It sank in.

"Yes," I nodded, trying not to panic. "I understand that."

Hermes nodded. "Good, then I expect you to be the one to make him pay for this." He waved at the mountaintop, where small patches of dust gathered. The two girls and Damien were nearby.

"Yes. I will," I said firmly. Hermes nodded approvingly.

"Good… Your plane leaves in two hours. Damien can drive you there with one of those minibuses," Hermes said. He turned to Zoe. "You have done a good job, Zoe… And I was right." Zoe swallowed and Hermes disappeared in a golden flash.

"What was he talking about?" asked Ben, growing. Zoe shook her head.

"Nothing," she muttered. She helped me up with Ben and together, they helped me into one of the minivans. All the monsters were gone except for Hyppolytos, who was screaming curses at us.

"Ignore him," Zoe said and turned away. Then, she turned back and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "You did a good job." She quickly hurried away to help Ben with the two girls .

I found my face growing warm.

I put on my seatbelt, remembering Damien's reckless driving. In minutes, the minivan was packed with all six of us and Damien was hurrying down the winding road.

We arrived to the airport thirty minutes later. One of the girls, the taller one, Gemma, a daughter of Demeter, stumbled out of the minibus and breathed in the fresh air. She had long blonde hair and brown eyes and freckles. Ivy, the smaller girl, a daughter of Athena, glanced around.

It was around two in the morning and the airport was nearly empty. We were all exhausted but Zoe found our flight and somehow, all our weapons, which were only Zoe's daggers and Damien's boomerang, passed through the metal detector. The security guards didn't give us a second glance and we boarded the plane just in time.

Although I was exhausted, I couldn't sleep. I found myself gripping the hand rests the whole time, my knuckles turning white. Thankfully, Zoe said that there wasn't much turbulence, although I thought we'd been going through a storm the whole while.

I was relieved when the plane touched down. There was a sudden flash of light throughout the cabin and a deep rumbling of thunder.

"I don't think Zeus is very pleased with you being in his territory," Zoe said. I didn't respond. We left the plane and got a three row taxi. I found that there were more people staring at us now. But no one tried to stop us. The taxi driver wouldn't drive us to Camp Half-Blood, so I told him to drive us to my mom's house. He grunted and drove off.

An hour later, the taxi stopped in front of my apartment building in the upper west side of Manhattan. We all got out.

"You think your mom will be ok with us staying here for a night?" asked Zoe. I nodded. My mom loved helping people and she often volunteered at local shelters.

I opened the building's front door and we rode the elevator to the fifth floor. I felt my eyelids growing heavy. I hoped my mom wouldn't mind finding me on her doorstep after nearly three weeks of not seeing her.

I rang the doorbell and waited. Someone yawned behind me. After a few moments the door opened and standing in front of me was my mother.

"Harry?" she asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She was wearing her pyjamas and socks. She noticed the five other teens standing behind me. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at that camp?"

"Mom," I whispered and hugged her. I suddenly felt so relieved. All the stress that I had had inside me for the past week suddenly disappeared and it hit me that I'd completed the prophecy. I didn't have to worry anymore.

"What's going on?" my mom asked, startled. She hugged me back, a little confused.

"I'll explain everything tomorrow," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "We just need a place to sleep for tonight and then we'll leave." My mom nodded and stepped aside.

She let us come in and Zoe stopped in front of her. "Thank, Ms Seawood, for your help." My mom blinked and nodded.

"Of course, miss," she said and closed the door behind us. We stood in the hallway awkwardly. "Harry maybe the boys can sleep in your room." I led Damien and Ben to my room, which was very small.

I kicked a pile of clothes under my bed pulled out a mattress from my closet, throwing a blanket and a pillow on top. I opened a cot we had for no reason. Ben and Damien crashed down on the beds and I fell onto mine. I immediately fell asleep.

The next morning, I told my mom everything. She didn't seem surprised. We left her and went back to Camp Half-Blood. Since they hadn't received any news of us since we were in Chicago (which was only two days ago), they had no idea where we were.

We walked down to the Big House. There were kids playing on the volleyball field below, but no one had seen us arriving. We turned the corner of the porch and on the side facing the ocean sat Mr D and Chiron.

Both of them looked up from their card game, surprised to see us. Chiron hurried towards us.

"You're back!" he shouted, as if that wasn't obvious enough.

An hour later, with Ben, Gemma, and Ivy in the infirmary, we sat on the porch, watching the ocean. I'd spent the last twenty minutes explaining everything. Chiron was silent. He rubbed his beard thoughtfully.

"Damien, are your ankles still hurting?" he finally asked. Damien blinked, surprised by the question.

"Oh, they do actually," he said. He seemed to have forgotten about them.

"Come with me, I'll get you some nectar," he said, bending his head so he could enter the Big House. Damien followed him inside.

Zoe and I sat in an awkward silence. I let my mind wander back to that moment when Zoe was holding up the sky. And how Hyppolytos had pushed her forward, telling her she should be the one doing it.

I turned to Zoe. "Was there a reason why you accepted to take Atlas' place?"

"What do you mean? Hyppolytos forced me into it," she said, a little too quickly.

I frowned, recalling a lesson I'd had with Chiron. "Are you sure? Because I remember Chiron saying no one could be forced into doing so."

"Um… I - I guess it was for the sake of the prophecy…" She frowned. I don't know if it was only me, but she looked a little unsure of herself. "I mean, if Hyppolytos wasn't going to one trapped under there, then it should be me…" I frowned. That was kind of a weird reason.

Chiron came back.

"Are you two hungry?"

We spent the rest of the summer at Camp Half-Blood. Zoe had been right, the fireworks were amazing. Damien continued making things in his workshop and we only saw him during mealtimes. I often felt people looking at me as I walked passed. I kept the dragon's teeth in a box in Poseidon's cabin. I wasn't ready to sow them into the ground like seeds and raise an army from them.

Atlas still remains to be found. He hasn't caused any turmoil and Hyppolytos is still trapped under the sky forever. Ben, Gemma, and Ivy have recovered from their experience well. I completed the prophecy and Zoe and I have new swords. Ms Gustavo hasn't given any sign of coming back yet.

I was sitting in Poseidon's cabin,packing my bag. It was almost the end of summer and it was the last day of camp. I had a leather necklace around my neck, a single bead on it. The picture on it was that of Hyppolytos holding up the sky, this being the most memorable moment of the summer.

There was a knock on the door. It was Zoe. "Hey, can I come in?"

"Sure," I said, sitting down on my bed. "What's up?"

"I'm going to Chicago to live with my mother," she said, looking down at her feet.

"Nervous?" I asked. She nodded and sighed.

"I don't really know if my step-father's going to accept me. Last time… it wasn't the reaction I expected," she confessed.

"It'll be fine," I assured. "What about Ben?" She looked up confused.

"How do you know?" she asked, suddenly defensive. I shrugged it off.

"Kinda obvious," I said, trying to think about what I felt every time I saw her. "Are you ever going to ask him out?" Zoe suddenly looked sad. I realized I struck a soft spot.

"The reason why he didn't take me on the quest was because he was in love with Gemma," she finally said. "That's why I haven't talked to him since coming back."

"Oh…" I looked down at my feet, embarrassed. "But you still have feelings for him, don't you?"

Zoe took a shaky breath. "Yeah," she finally whispered. "I still do." And then she looked at me, deep in thought.

"Something wrong?" I asked. She quickly looked away and turned towards the door, but I could tell she was blushing.

"Uh, no nothing," she quickly said. She turned back towards me and the red had already faded. "Are you and Damien going to go to the same school?" I shrugged.

"Depends what his grandpa wants. But I think I'll be fine if he isn't with me." Zoe nodded and smiled a little.

"Good luck in school," she said. A whistle was blown outside. "We better go." I zipped up my bag and slid the box containing the dragon's teeth underneath my bed. I followed her out. She slung her own back over her shoulder and followed the crowd of campers heading for Half-Blood Hill. Damien joined us, slipping one of his inventions into his bag.

"I love this camp," he said, looking around. Gemma and Ben were ahead of us, holding hands. Ivy joined us.

She nodded. "I kinda wish I could stay here the whole year-round," she said. I caught Zoe grimacing. We reached the top of the hill and on the other side were several minibuses, waiting to drive us away.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," I said as Gemma and Ben joined us. Zoe looked away.

"See you guys next year," Zoe said, not even glancing at Ben. I looked at the six of us. And I hoped that we would all be here next June, standing at the top of this hill together.

If you liked it and if you want to know when the next story will be posted (book 2), check out my profile for the release date and follow me. Also, comment about how you feel about the ending. I like it. What do you think Atlas is going to do? And will Hyppolytos get away? Of course, I'd appreciate it if you didn't spoil anything, thanks :)


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